Ben Folds w/Regina Spektor on Conan

-You Don’t Know Me Video

Sorry I’ve been gone for awhile as far as posting goes.  We’ve been going full head of steam with the label since we started signing the bands up to every online social community we could find.  We got four down between the two of us in over 3 hours and have 8 or so to go.  At least I know what our next intern can do for most their time with us.  Here’s what I have planned soon for upcoming posts.  Check back soon to read them:

-Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s review of both Not Animal and Animal!
-review of Ben Folds’ Way to Normal
-a new Perch Mix!!!
-and whatever I come across randomly (which is kind of how I write my posts anyway)

Here’s some Ben Folds’ dates for you if you’re interested…

10/03         Ft. Wayne, IN     Embassy Theatre
10/04         Louisville, KY    Whitney Hall
10/08        Athens, OH         Ohio University
10/09        Detroit, MI        The Fillmore
10/10         Chicago, IL        Congress Theatre
10/11        Green Bay, WI    OKOBOS Fest
10/16        St. Louis, MO        The Pageant
10/17        St. Paul, MN        The Myth
10/18         Kirksville, MO     Pershing Arena
10/22         Kansas City, MO    Uptown Theatre
10/23        Dallas, TX        Palladium Ballroom
10/24        Houston, TX        Warehouse Live
10/25        Austin, TX        Stubb’s
11/11        Tempe, AZ        Arizona State University
11/13        San Francisco, CA     The Warfield
11/14        Los Angeles, CA     The Wiltern Theatre

Dexter - S.3.Ep.1 - “Our Father”

I’d say Dexter is pretty easily one of my favorite shows on tv.  It may even get the top spot.  If you’re a fan already, you’ve probably followed both seasons so far and know exactly what I’m saying.  If you haven’t had the chance to see it, or thought it looked dumb because it’s about a serial killer killing serial killers, well, I just hope you give it a chance someday.  I love the writing.  It makes me nervous as hell every time I watch it since he’s usually working on the very murders he committed while the police chief is staring down his neck suspiciously wondering why this blood anyalist for the case seem to always oddly know more than he should about the cases.  But the last two seasons have been some of my favorite tv I’ve watched in a long time, and after just watching this newest episode, I can safely say this new season is going to be right up there with the others.  So glad it’s back on!

Summary:
“For Dexter, life seems to be going well. His relationship with Rita and her kids is back on track. He’s no longer under scrutiny at his day job as a blood spatter analyst for Miami Metro Homicide. And his night job as a serial killer is operating on all cylinders. So when he sets his sights on Freebo, a dope dealer and killer, it looks to be just another night of Dexter’s dark justice. But things don’t go as planned and Dexter must find a way to extract himself from a pair of problems that he created, both in his home and night life. Dexter also finds himself inexorably drawn to Miguel Prado, an Assistant District Attorney, who has a very personal reason to bring Freebo to justice. Meanwhile, Debra is put in a difficult situation when someone from Internal Affairs wants her to inform on her new partner, Quinn.”

Grand Archive’s self-titled Sub Pop offering was released February of this year.  I literally had it sitting in my 2008 folder that long without even coming close to listening to it.  You’d be surprised just how many albums from this year I have sitting unlistened like this one.  I always say I’ll get to them, but honestly, it takes a fluke super bored night like tonight to get me bored enough to think, let’s give one of those album a shot!  What d’ya say?

Well, it’s a good thing I decided to check out Grand Archives seven months too late, because it’s quite the great pop number from a group of guys from Seattle, where pop music is definitely not the norm.  Grand Archives is the project from ex-Band of Horses singer/guitarist Mat Brooke, who left Band of Horses in the middle of Everything All the Time seeing all kinds of success, and he never really looked back as Band of Horses released another album and just got bigger and bigger.  But, listening to his new band’s songs, it’s pretty clear he’s happy with the choice he made.  No one writes upbeat songs like these if they’re feeling down about life.

As I keep listening to this album, it’s becoming clear to me why I never got past that first listen.  It’s one of those “you have to give it a chance” albums that I find nearly impossible to pass on to people, and equally impossible to take seriously when one is offered to me by a friend.  See the Catch-22 there?  This self-titled album easily blends in to the dreamy pop genre among countless other bands, and for that very reason I passed it up initially.  But, it’s undeniable after having it playing for three hours on repeat that the songs grow on you fast.

I either didn’t pay attention around the time Sub Pop released this album, or just ignored the reviews, but I have no idea how well this album was recieved.  I imagine somewhat well considering Brooke had the whole Band of Horses backstory for the Pitchfork crowd to latch onto.  But either way, whatever the reviews ended up being and however well their tour went, it’s all moot to me at this point.  I’m listening to the album now, enjoying the heck out of it, and am simply happier at the moment because of it.  Sometimes finding an album this late after it’s release is better because there’s no hype, no horde of reviews to wade through just to figure out if the writer liked it or not behind their moutains of pointless metaphors, and simply no one talking about it.  I’m probably the only one listening to it out of anyone I know.  And you know what, that’s just fine with me.

Grand Archives
Grand Archives
Perch Score: 7.577

Straight from Daniel, here’s a little quote on the making of the video:
“Annuals’ ‘Confessor’ is my first directorial experience after more than 20 years of work in the film industry.  [My career] began with building creatures in Rome, then into conceptual design with Terry Gilliam (Monty Python, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys,Time Bandits, etc.) in London and moving to Los Angeles after winning an Emmy award with the Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. I directed this video as part of the artist collective, The Masses. The treatment that the band wrote for ‘Confessor’ brought me back to the fanciful atmospheres that captured my teenage years.  I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to practice some magic with the use of drawings.

The video (echoing a journey through the illustrations of a Fantasy book) takes advantage of a simple brain mechanism to evoke the presence of a supernatural element: a mysterious owl with cat eyes.  Under this incantation, the protagonists of the video (members of the band) follow the course of their destiny.  And following this exciting experience, I perhaps found a new one myself.”

(Yeah, I didn’t feel like writing anything today.  So, enjoy the video for Annuals’ first single, and the little copy and pasted backstory about it all.)

Ben Folds
Way to Normal
Release: September 30, 2008

1. Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)
2. Dr. Yang
3. The Frown Song
4. You Don’t Know Me (featuring Regina Spektor)
   
5. Before Cologne
6. Cologne
7. Errant Dog
8. Free Coffee
9. Bitch Went Nuts
10. Brainwashed
11. Effington
12. Kylie from Connecticut

BONUS:
Ben Folds - Such Great Heights

Official Site / Myspace

I went with a few friends of mine late last night to catch the Coen Brother’s new flick Burn After Reading and loved it.  I’d read plenty of reviews going into it, all saying one of two things.  One, that it was fun, way over the top, and ultimately pointless for such a great ensemble to take on.  Or two, that it was too dark to be a true comedy, but also too loopy to not fall somewhat in the comedy category.  Both are pessimistic views on a movie whose moral ends up being that most things in life are pointless.  I’ll take the optimistic route with this review.

Although I had hoped that somehow Burn After Reading would be the next Big Lebowski, and while some reviews labeled it that, it ultimately falls short of that.  I don’t really see this new movie gaining any cult status here in 10 years like Lebowski.  I mean, it’s hard to forget characters like the Dude, Walter, Donny, the nhilists, Maude, and pretty much every character in the Big Lebowski.  But Burn After Reading still has its share of memorable, and very funny characters.  They’re just more along the lines of those characters in Fargo, who are normal people with normal lives suddenly acting crazy.

Brad Pitt’s character is by far the main reason you should see this movie.  Every time he was on screen, I was cracking up.  He plays an aerobics instructer, who, along with Frances McDormand, examine a disc the janitor recently found and plot to use the top secret information to possibly get a reward from the owner of the disc.  The information on the disc is part of John Malkovich’s memoir he had been writing after being fired from his government job.  To Malkovich, and to the two gym rats, this information is of upmost importance.  But, as the story progresses, you begin to think in the back of your mind, are these just a bunch of idiots running around because of trivial, non-important information?  It is a Coen Brother’s movie, so 9 times out of 10 the answer is probably yes.

George Cloony plays a womanizer who’s cheating on his wife with Tilda Swinton, who in turn is cheating on Malkovich with Cloony.  He becomes a factor in the story when he takes McDormand out on a date and gets wrapped up in his own consipiracy theory and paranoia.  I’d say Cloony is the loopiest of the bunch by far, which is pretty fun to watch.  Throw in the gym manager who is in love with McDormand, and you’ve got yourself a nice little disfunctional crew.  Oh, did I mention McDormand main motive for blackmailing Malkovich is to pay for plastic surgery that wasn’t approved by her HMO.  Yeah, I told you their reasons for doing all this weren’t exactly rocket science.

By the end of the movie, I was pleasantly surprised.  It does start out somewhat slow, having to introduce the characters.  But once everyone is introduced and become a part of the overall story, that’s when everything falls apart and becomes a joy to watch.  My recommendation going into this movie is to understand you’re about to watch a smart and well made film about some pretty clueless people.  I imagine most the people I’ve talked to who’ve seen it and didn’t like it only saw everyone acting over the top and not the overlying message the Coen Brother’s provide throughout the movie, and especially in the final scene, which very slyly, and hilariously brings all the nonsense back full circle and one can’t help but smile when the credits start to roll.

I’ll most likely see Burn After Reading once more before it leaves theatres, and then probably buy it on DVD, mainly because it seems like a movie you can have fun watching over and over again.  I still have some questions as to why certain characters did certain things, but for those reviews saying it’s overly dark and pessimistic throughout.  Well, yeah I guess you could say that.  But what it comes down to is that it’s a Coen Brother’s movie, and even though it’s admittedly dark and nhilistic, it’s still funny as hell and a joy to watch.

RIYL:  Coen Brothers’ comedies, Snatch set in the suburbs with bumbling idiots trying to blackmail each other

I doubt this is much of an exclusive, but I always enjoy having Perch Exclusive in my post title to build excitement.  I received in my inbox today a much anticipated email from Sony Epic, Margot’s new label, giving me a peek at the new album and confirming that my copy is in the mail for review.  Oh the excitement.  I immediately listened to the two tracks they’re letting us bloggers share, and while I’ve heard them live, they still sound amazing.

Most of you know the back story of this new double album, where Margot and their label feuded about which songs to release on the album.  Margot wanting a certain set of songs, the label wanting the other set.  And, as rumor has it, Margot’s lead singer Richard Edwards flew up to NYC and talked to the heads themselves, and after a few threats to leak the album, they came to an agreement (again, might just be pure rumor).  Margot’s album choice, Animal!, will be released October 7th on Vinyl, and the label’s choice, Not Animal, will be released digitally and on CD.  So, these songs are from Not Animal and you’ll hear most the press from the label being related to this release.  I talked to their horn player not too long ago at a show here in town and he didn’t know what was going to happen with the dispute, which was full on at that time.  Luckily for all of us, it got resolved and we get two new albums of Margot music to enjoy next month.  That, my friends, is a very good thing.  Here’s two new songs from Not Animal.  Let me know what you think.

Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
Not Animal
Release: Oct. 7th, 2008

1. A Children’s Crusade On Acid [mp3]

2. German Motor Car
3. Broadripple Is Burning!
4. Real Naked Girls.
5. Holy Cow!
6. Cold, Kind, and Lemon Eyes
7. Hello Vagina
8. As Tall As Cliffs [mp3]

9. Pages Written On The Wall
10. The Shivers (I’ve Got ‘Em)
11. The Ocean (Is Bleeding Salt)
12. Hip, Hip Hooray
13. Jesus Christ Blues.

Official Site / Myspace

If I can find it each week, then I’ll post the latest episodes from each week’s It’s Always Sunny.  If you haven’t seen it, the show is mainly improv style feeling like Seinfeld on crack.  Usually no plot and always good for a lot of laughs.  Here’s the first two episodes of the new season.

S.4, Ep. 1 - Mac and Dennis: Manhunters (”I think you’re confusing your life with Rambo’s again”)
S.4, Ep. 2 - The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis (”I can’t see s**t, why would you tint the inside of the windows?”)

Anyway, I was just sitting here bored (hence the random rant just now), and remembered a cool music video Charlie showed me on Friday.  It’s a kenetic typography video some guy made while learning the After Effects animation software and what he came up with is simply stunning.  The craziest part is that he didn’t know the software when he started, and had clearly seemed to mastered it by the end of the project.  Look for how much more complex the video gets towards the end as his skills and confidence with the program are clearly seen improving over time.  Cool stuff indeed.

Blink 182 - Online Songs (kinetic typography music video)

More kinetic typography I randomly found on youtube (some are NSFW):

-Pulp Fiction monologue
-Fight Club Chemical Burn Scene
-Who’s On First skit
-The Big Lebowski Jesus scene
-V for Vendetta

EDIT:
Just found a nice little typography video for a Ratatat song.  Obviously no words, but takes a more unique route representing the melody.  I like this one a lot.

-Video done to a Ratatat song

There’s like a hundred more HERE.  Typography done really well is one of my favorite things.  I’m sure there’s someone out there reading this that enjoys it as much as I do.  This post is for you.