Monday, January 14, 2008

Recap: The Weekend in Music

So much of what makes it on Range Life comes from conversations with friends, random observations, and the like. As we kick off a new week, I thought I'd recap some of my recent music musings.

High Infidelity
Have any of you seen the TV edit of High Fidelity? I came across it whilst channel surfing Saturday, and though I own the film and have the better half of it memorized, it's hard to turn off (perhaps it's like hearing "Phantom Limb" on the radio?). After suffering through an initial commercial break, I was treated to a chop-shop job of the final few scenes. SPOILER ALERT. Toward the end, when Rob makes the mixed tape for the cute redhead interview chick, the camera cuts to a monologue in the park. There is a fairly pivotal moment when Rob confesses, "Should I bolt every time I get that feeling in my gut when I meet someone new? Well, I've been listening to my gut since I was 14 years old, and frankly speaking, I've come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains." Well, the fine editors over at E! decided to leave this scene intact, but to dub over the cuss word in the latter part, leaving the fine proclamation, "My guts have SOUP for brains." Soup? Soup?

P.S. Does anyone else think that Rob should dump the raspy cheating bitch and hook up with the Reader columnist? Maybe I've just got soup for brains.

Zaireeka #4
Or is it five? In any event, I'm pleased to report that The Flaming Lip's phenomenal four-disc album only gets better with multiple listens. I think I shall post an addendum to my earlier Zaireeka post: mirrorball/other strobing lights are a must. As I laid on my back staring at the orbiting blue lights during "A Machine in India," I could see a whole future of possibility laid out before me. That, and, "
all the bleedin' vaginas." Ahem.

Babysit Me
Just when I think I've washed my hands of 2007, I keep unearthing albums that didn't get the attention they deserved from this listener. In the past few weeks I've had a growing infatuation with St. Vincent's Marry Me. St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, certainly has the indie cred, as she's worked as a backup gal for both the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens. And, after hearing her open for The National in Omaha, I was blown away by a deconstructed version of Marry Me opener "Now, Now." (You can hear the album version in our Range Life player.)

This weekend SonicRyan brought to my attention that the title "Marry Me" was a tribute to one of our staff's favorite TV shows ever, Arrested Development. (Miss Clark substantiates this claim in a P4k interview.) Is it sad that this makes me like the album even more? Now there's talk of RL doing a tribute album called "Babysit Me," complete with cover art/afro/deer-in-the-headlights-expression. We'll let you know how that comes along.

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