Category Archive: Listening
Lost In Translation
A great, subtle movie.
I liked Bill Murray in the otherwise forgettable Wild Things, and his work here is somewhat similar in style to Rushmore. I always thought he was good in Mad Dog and Glory. In LIT, his understated expressiveness works well with the overall personality of the movie.
During LIT, I assumed Scarlett Johansson was mid- to late-twenties, but IMDB says she's not quite 19. A mature performance here, with a lot of nuance.
How's that for a pretentious-sounding movie review?
22 Oct 2003 @ 12.09 PMLost Music
I lost my music.
I wasn't really using it, but the fact that it's gone (at least temporarily) comes to my attention from time to time. Jason is using my MP3 player; he's doing data entry at work, and is allowed to wear headphones, so he's been listening to music and a long series of audio lectures on existensialism during the day.
When Carole left for her trip to New England with her mom, dad, aunt, and uncle (she's due back late Saturday afternoon), I loaned her my portable CD/MP3 player, in case the rental van didn't have a built-in CD player.
When I woke up this morning, I was thinking it would be a good day to walk the hills at lunch time. Then I remembered - no music. I may still walk, but half the fun is listening to music along the way.
Old Favorites
Overcome by one of those semi-primal urges to listen to some light yet sophisticated music, I burned an mp3 CD of Diana Krall, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Sheryl Crow, and some others. (No Dave's True Story - a serious omission.) It helped me ease into sleep a couple of nights ago.
Unfortunately, a 10-hour CD will just keep playing, at least until the batteries run out. When Carole came in around 2:00am, I woke up enough to turn it off.
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
One of three CDs in my car changer.
Weakerthans
After reading some good things, I downloaded a bunch of Weakerthans songs from the 'net. The catchy music (a little pop, a little punk, a little folk) blends with the witty lyrics with great effect.
Dave's True Story - Unauthorized
Still one of my favorites. David Cantor's lyrics sung by Kelly Flint combine sophisticated but unpretentious jazz with intelligent and witty lyrics.
Eels - Shootenanny
Mark Everett ("E") brings us bittersweet wit and lighthearted drama.
A Rush of Blood to the Head
When I first played this CD, I ripped it and put it on my MP3 player, and it's been there ever since. I listen to it a lot when I walk in the hills by my work during lunch time. I'm a sucker for intelligent lyrics and sophisticated but unpretentious music.
Here's an Amazon link.
Heartdrops
Just picked up Heartdrops: Vince Benedetti meets Diana Krall - it popped up as a recommendation on Amazon. Gave it a first listen on the way home from work, and it's pretty good. Maybe a little more brass than I normally go for, but Krall's vocals are fresh, and her harmonies with guitarist Martien Oster are a first for me.
Here's an Amazon
link