Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover

Really have to catch up on my music updates ugh. It's practically impossible I think given the volume of music I go through. So I think I'll limit this to albums I listen to in full and thoroughly.

Which I did for this album and my word did that pay off. Not consistently impressive like Wolf Parade's Apologies to Queen Mary but this one is seriously brilliant in parts. Obviously Spencer Krug was going for a lot more, I think more than half the songs are 6 minutes long or more. And sometimes it doesn't work when it does, like on For The Pier (And Dead Shimmering) you really get the feeling like this guy could revolutionise rock music if only enough people would open their minds to it.

I mean, half the songs in this album can be broken down into movements. The entire album can be seen as in itself a complete work, more than a sum of its tracks. It's not just about the track to track transitions, its in the content, how Colt Stands Up, Grows Horns tinkles and morphs into the bellowing Stallion.

Really really ambitious stuff, and it feels like so much thought has gone into it, which I love.

Stardust (2007)

Haha another movie I OUGHT to be embarrassed about watching but heyy its Neil Gaiman so at least its not completely without cred.

But I liked it! For the most part. Mostly for Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert DeNiro.

In love with a star. Haha.

The Piano (1993)

A movie with real shades of Wuthering Heights, in that every sense of peace given to the film by its association with really nice piano music is challenged by the harshness of the environment and all the main characters.

Where the dynamics, even the validity of every human relationship is questioned and kinship is the sole prerogative of the native New Zealanders prowling in the background.

Still cruelty, that has stolidly maintained its presence throughout, does not rear its head past the front door. Violence in this film is never violence without feeling.

Hard Candy (2005)

Heard this was Ellen Page's best performance as an actress and she doesn't disappoint. Edge of the seat is right.

Thing I loved most about this movie is that the whole time I didn't know who to sympathise with.

A psychological thriller in the essential sense.