Okay, first off we all need to dispel the notion that the Newport Folk Festival is just a bunch of hippies sitting in a circle with acoustic guitars. The word “Folk” in the title really doesn’t fit the general lineup – in the past few years, there have been acts ranging from Elvis Costello to Wilco to Pixies to the Allman Brothers headlining this eclectic mix of performers. Which isn’t to say that there aren’t any stinky hippies, but that’s beside the point.
The real story is twofold:
First, it’s about the best outdoor venue I have ever visited - Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. Why so good? Well, out of the three stages, two are right on the water. Some people actually dock boats right outside to watch the show. And the entire area is covered in grass, rather than the harsh tar-and-concrete surface of most summer fests.
Second, the most important story is about the talent that shows up to these two-day festivals every year. It’s great to see a new, sometimes unknown band on the smallest stage (reserved for up-and-comers or more intimate performances from big stage acts) one show, and see them again on the headlining stage the following year. That’s the move Old Crow Medicine Show made, and now you can hear their music everywhere. And the headliners are nothing to sneeze at either – the Pixies acoustic set was one of the best performances I’ve seen (and if you know their music, acoustic isn’t so easy to pull off).
And this year’s show may be even more intriguing than all the past years. We’ve got the Black Crowes headlining on Saturday, with the mayor of Margaritaville himself, Jimmy Buffett, up front on Sunday. Jakob Dylan (son of Bob – you think he’ll go electric?) will be out promoting his first non-Wallflowers solo effort. And I don’t generally go for the actress-turned-chanteuse thing, but I’m willing to make an exception for She & Him – Zooey Deschanel’s beautifully off-kilter vocals mesh perfectly with M. Ward’s odd, alt-country leanings. And there are many more bands to see this year, as shown in the early lineup listed below (with still more acts to be added to the roster):
Saturday, August 2
The Black Crowes
Cat Power
Stephen & Damian Marley
Cowboy Junkies
Jim James (of My Morning Jacket)
She & Him (feat. Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward)
Jakob Dylan
Willy Mason
The Felice Brothers
Jesca Hoop
Sunday, August 3
Jimmy Buffett
Levon Helm
Gillian Welch
The Avett Brothers
Calexico
Brandi Carlile
Kaki King
Over The Rhine
Jake Shimabukuro
Kate Taylor
Richard Julian
Tickets are on sale Wednesday, April 23rd at 9 AM. You can get them online at:
https://ticketing.festivalnetwork.com/
Just be warned – it looks like there are only a limited amount of two-day passes, so start early if you don’t want to pay full price for two single-day tickets.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
It Came From The MP3 Vault – Volume 2
Okay, it’s time to clear out some more space on the MP3 player. Who makes the cut this round? Let’s find out…
The Noisettes – What’s The Time Mr. Wolf? (2006) - Most post-punk garage rock bands can be remarkable in one of two ways: 1) They can be remarkably unoriginal and sound like every other moron who decided simply putting “The” in front of their name while making the rest of the moniker plural would be enough, or 2) They can blow the doors off and make the former seem like total douchebags. I vote the second option for this band. The female vocalist of this London trio has a snarling attitude that comes through so clearly on this album that I think she may be able to punch you right through your speaker. And the fact that they originally came together while sabotaging another band’s performance? That’s the icing on the psychotic (yet tuneful) cake.
Verdict: Don’t hit me, I’m fragile! I’ll keep it!
Crumbsuckers – Beast On My Back (B.O.M.B.) (1988) – You know how your memory sometimes romanticizes something from your youth, making it seem much more appealing than it actually is? I remember loving this album as a teen, and it took me a while to track it down again. It’s a crossover thrash album, so I remember the screaming guitar and relentless drum beats. But the vocals sounding like someone who just gargled glass trying to shout out the phone book? Like so much from by childhood, I did not recall that.
Verdict: Grah-Grrrroooowl! (That’s broken glass gargle-ese for “Make It Stop!”)
Hot Chip – Coming On Strong (2004) – Do you remember the version of “Boyz’n’The Hood” that Dynamite Hack did a few years back? It was a cover of a rap song, with very subdued vocals, slow music, and incredible whiteness. That song was funny and well planned, but just one track. Well imagine an entire album of that, with less skill, and you’ve got a pretty good impression of this Hot Chip disc. There’s a generic synth backbeat on most songs that’s a cross between disco and reggae, and sounds like it was done on a cheap Casio keyboard – oh, and at a tempo so slow that I’d HOPE someone was on Valium while playing. This had potential, but it was wasted – there are multiple later albums by these guys, and hopefully those proved better.
Verdict: Stink stank stunk – When I got this, I mighta been drunk.
Northern State – Can I Keep This Pen? (2007) – Silly white girls rapping? Sign me up! I heard about this band, of all places, in the back of a comic book (Powers) – and I’m glad I didn’t skip this recommendation. With their deadpan flow (gotta love a girl who rhymes Crazy Glue with fondue) and sailors-at-a-truckstop potty mouths, everything meshes perfectly for this intentionally funny trio. The most entertaining part may be that they even seem to crack themselves up, and you can hear them laughing at each other in the background. But they’re not just a one-trick act – their rhymes mix with waifish vocals on “Better Already” over a garage rock backdrop, while on “Three Amigas” the ladies create a Spaghetti Western through song. Beat that range, MC Lars! Oh, and these ladies will be at Pearl Street in Northampton next week (April 24th) – so check out this disc already!
Verdict: Three girls from New York, Who sound like funny dorks? Me likey!
That's it for this round...
The Noisettes – What’s The Time Mr. Wolf? (2006) - Most post-punk garage rock bands can be remarkable in one of two ways: 1) They can be remarkably unoriginal and sound like every other moron who decided simply putting “The” in front of their name while making the rest of the moniker plural would be enough, or 2) They can blow the doors off and make the former seem like total douchebags. I vote the second option for this band. The female vocalist of this London trio has a snarling attitude that comes through so clearly on this album that I think she may be able to punch you right through your speaker. And the fact that they originally came together while sabotaging another band’s performance? That’s the icing on the psychotic (yet tuneful) cake.
Verdict: Don’t hit me, I’m fragile! I’ll keep it!
Crumbsuckers – Beast On My Back (B.O.M.B.) (1988) – You know how your memory sometimes romanticizes something from your youth, making it seem much more appealing than it actually is? I remember loving this album as a teen, and it took me a while to track it down again. It’s a crossover thrash album, so I remember the screaming guitar and relentless drum beats. But the vocals sounding like someone who just gargled glass trying to shout out the phone book? Like so much from by childhood, I did not recall that.
Verdict: Grah-Grrrroooowl! (That’s broken glass gargle-ese for “Make It Stop!”)
Hot Chip – Coming On Strong (2004) – Do you remember the version of “Boyz’n’The Hood” that Dynamite Hack did a few years back? It was a cover of a rap song, with very subdued vocals, slow music, and incredible whiteness. That song was funny and well planned, but just one track. Well imagine an entire album of that, with less skill, and you’ve got a pretty good impression of this Hot Chip disc. There’s a generic synth backbeat on most songs that’s a cross between disco and reggae, and sounds like it was done on a cheap Casio keyboard – oh, and at a tempo so slow that I’d HOPE someone was on Valium while playing. This had potential, but it was wasted – there are multiple later albums by these guys, and hopefully those proved better.
Verdict: Stink stank stunk – When I got this, I mighta been drunk.
Northern State – Can I Keep This Pen? (2007) – Silly white girls rapping? Sign me up! I heard about this band, of all places, in the back of a comic book (Powers) – and I’m glad I didn’t skip this recommendation. With their deadpan flow (gotta love a girl who rhymes Crazy Glue with fondue) and sailors-at-a-truckstop potty mouths, everything meshes perfectly for this intentionally funny trio. The most entertaining part may be that they even seem to crack themselves up, and you can hear them laughing at each other in the background. But they’re not just a one-trick act – their rhymes mix with waifish vocals on “Better Already” over a garage rock backdrop, while on “Three Amigas” the ladies create a Spaghetti Western through song. Beat that range, MC Lars! Oh, and these ladies will be at Pearl Street in Northampton next week (April 24th) – so check out this disc already!
Verdict: Three girls from New York, Who sound like funny dorks? Me likey!
That's it for this round...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Nine Inches Of Internet Genius – And Not Nearly As Dirty As It Sounds
So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed – but the music industry sucks. Not the musicians, mind you, but the business model backing them. Yeah, it’s always been a bunch of stuffed shirts with dollar signs in their eyes looking for the next trend – but the fact that they nearly missed out on the whole internet thing blows my mind.
From the second Napster hit the web and showed the world how to download, R & D for the major labels should have been trying to work on a new digital business model to make some money. They could have easily set up a tiered subscription service (Basic, Gold or Platinum, from low usage to unlimited) that could have given consumers a legal alternative and provided a huge source of revenue. But they didn’t – instead spending ridiculous amounts of money in legal fees trying to get that genie back in the bottle.
But by then, the scene had already been set – people didn’t see downloading as wrong, because they had been burned by the music biz for so long already. Everyone was fed up with paying for a full album when there were only a couple of songs actually worth the money, with a whole lot of filler. And the rest of the public were just pissed that they had followed industry trends and replaced their old vinyl with cassettes, cassettes with CDs, and who knew what new format may be looming ahead? Why should they have to pay again?
(On a side note, our Canadian neighbors were much smarter about this from the start. The Canadian government worked out a deal with the RIAA that would legalize all music downloads in their country. The price: an extra tax on blank media (cdr, mp3 players, etc.) that would go directly to the record companies. If only the U.S. were as smart as those crafty Canucks!)
So where does this leave us now? Well, there’s no central store where you can get everything you want, legally. I mean, there’s iTunes, which has a decent catalog. And Napster (the new version, the name bought out by Roxio) seems to be doing okay. But at prices nearing a dollar per song, or only slightly discounted full album packages, what’s the real appeal? The general public had way too much time to accept illegal downloading as the norm before these businesses set up. Even with the threat of lawsuits and fines, most consumers felt righteous enough in their piracy. I mean, after being tricked into buying albums from the Spice Girls or Hanson, they essentially bought a $15 coaster. Yeeecch.
And what could the major labels do to regain our trust? Well, they could take a cue from some of their artists. On September 16, 2007, while Nine Inch Nails were touring to support Year Zero (their final effort to fulfill their contract with Universal Media), Trent Reznor gave the popular “Steal It!” speech to concertgoers in Australia. The gist of it was that he was sick of the major labels price-gouging fans, and that NIN followers should just go out and steal, download or otherwise liberate their new album.
Less than a month later, Radiohead came up with a similar idea. They too were recently done with their label contract, and decided to let fans price their new album (In Rainbows) for themselves online. You could download the album, in its entirety, for whatever you chose. Obviously, there were a lot of “free” copies, but a good deal of money was made. This was an amazing promotional movement for when the physical album was released a few months later, to fantastic sales numbers.
Nine Inch Nails followed their own advice in early 2008, with Trent Reznor posting a link for the first section of their new Ghosts I-IV album for download on The Pirate Bay (a popular, if not entirely legal, Bit Torrent search site). At the same time, through the official NIN site, there were different Ghosts packages available – both for download and physical ordering. Fans could download the first section for free, the entire album for $5 (complete with a digital copy of the CD art), the physical double-disc for $10 and various deluxe packages for rabid fans – including a $300 version with a limited print run of 2500, which sold out in the first week (that's $750,000 on ONE VERSION, in one week). This was all done through their own private label, the Null Corporation – a nice dig as to how much record labels are actually worth. A store release of the CD happened about a month later.
So, what’s the point? Well, Mr. Reznor seems to have made that quite clear – there is a truckload of money to be made, but there are also fair prices that can be attached. For $5, almost anyone would buy a 36-track album – even if it is a crazy experimental, all-instrumental album like Ghosts. And from a purely promotional standpoint, artists allowing a decent sampling of their wares before you purchase keeps everybody honest. If you like what you hear, you’re more likely to buy. But if most of the album doesn’t sound a thing like the lead single and stinks like old cheese…You get the idea.
Now, if only the record execs would get that same flash of genius…
From the second Napster hit the web and showed the world how to download, R & D for the major labels should have been trying to work on a new digital business model to make some money. They could have easily set up a tiered subscription service (Basic, Gold or Platinum, from low usage to unlimited) that could have given consumers a legal alternative and provided a huge source of revenue. But they didn’t – instead spending ridiculous amounts of money in legal fees trying to get that genie back in the bottle.
But by then, the scene had already been set – people didn’t see downloading as wrong, because they had been burned by the music biz for so long already. Everyone was fed up with paying for a full album when there were only a couple of songs actually worth the money, with a whole lot of filler. And the rest of the public were just pissed that they had followed industry trends and replaced their old vinyl with cassettes, cassettes with CDs, and who knew what new format may be looming ahead? Why should they have to pay again?
(On a side note, our Canadian neighbors were much smarter about this from the start. The Canadian government worked out a deal with the RIAA that would legalize all music downloads in their country. The price: an extra tax on blank media (cdr, mp3 players, etc.) that would go directly to the record companies. If only the U.S. were as smart as those crafty Canucks!)
So where does this leave us now? Well, there’s no central store where you can get everything you want, legally. I mean, there’s iTunes, which has a decent catalog. And Napster (the new version, the name bought out by Roxio) seems to be doing okay. But at prices nearing a dollar per song, or only slightly discounted full album packages, what’s the real appeal? The general public had way too much time to accept illegal downloading as the norm before these businesses set up. Even with the threat of lawsuits and fines, most consumers felt righteous enough in their piracy. I mean, after being tricked into buying albums from the Spice Girls or Hanson, they essentially bought a $15 coaster. Yeeecch.
And what could the major labels do to regain our trust? Well, they could take a cue from some of their artists. On September 16, 2007, while Nine Inch Nails were touring to support Year Zero (their final effort to fulfill their contract with Universal Media), Trent Reznor gave the popular “Steal It!” speech to concertgoers in Australia. The gist of it was that he was sick of the major labels price-gouging fans, and that NIN followers should just go out and steal, download or otherwise liberate their new album.
Less than a month later, Radiohead came up with a similar idea. They too were recently done with their label contract, and decided to let fans price their new album (In Rainbows) for themselves online. You could download the album, in its entirety, for whatever you chose. Obviously, there were a lot of “free” copies, but a good deal of money was made. This was an amazing promotional movement for when the physical album was released a few months later, to fantastic sales numbers.
Nine Inch Nails followed their own advice in early 2008, with Trent Reznor posting a link for the first section of their new Ghosts I-IV album for download on The Pirate Bay (a popular, if not entirely legal, Bit Torrent search site). At the same time, through the official NIN site, there were different Ghosts packages available – both for download and physical ordering. Fans could download the first section for free, the entire album for $5 (complete with a digital copy of the CD art), the physical double-disc for $10 and various deluxe packages for rabid fans – including a $300 version with a limited print run of 2500, which sold out in the first week (that's $750,000 on ONE VERSION, in one week). This was all done through their own private label, the Null Corporation – a nice dig as to how much record labels are actually worth. A store release of the CD happened about a month later.
So, what’s the point? Well, Mr. Reznor seems to have made that quite clear – there is a truckload of money to be made, but there are also fair prices that can be attached. For $5, almost anyone would buy a 36-track album – even if it is a crazy experimental, all-instrumental album like Ghosts. And from a purely promotional standpoint, artists allowing a decent sampling of their wares before you purchase keeps everybody honest. If you like what you hear, you’re more likely to buy. But if most of the album doesn’t sound a thing like the lead single and stinks like old cheese…You get the idea.
Now, if only the record execs would get that same flash of genius…
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Rocking Dead Hit New Orleans
The dead walk! The streets of New Orleans were flooded with previously deceased wanderers this morning – and all they want to do is rock. Legions of dead music icons have been spotted, from the Big Bopper to Jerry Garcia. A Hoodoo priest, Papa LeBeau, takes credit for this freaky feat: “I was just trying to cast a spell to bring all the musicians back to Orleans, to bring the life back to this town”, said the Houngan (priest). “Sometimes the spirits take things too literally.”
A reporter for the New Orleans Times was brave enough to approach Buddy Holly and ask what they all wanted: “Most of us just want to get back to work. And take a shower – I don’t know if you noticed, but we stink a bit.” The problem is that no one wants to work with the deceased legends – barring Ringo Starr, who was actually at the scene begging John Lennon to tour with him. Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl, when asked if a Nirvana reunion tour might be possible now that Kurt Cobain is back, responded: “No way, man! I’ve seen this movie – everything starts out fine, then the next thing you know, someone’s getting their brains gnawed on… But if he wants to go see Courtney, that would be cool. (laughs).”
Papa LeBeau insists that wouldn’t happen, though: “These aren’t Zombies, that’s a different kind of mojo. This is more powerful magic – they should all be pretty close to how they were before they died.” So, what are these idols of millions planning now? George Harrison, who seems to have been appointed spokesperson for the group, had this to say: “We just want to return to some semblance of a “normal life”, whatever that may be. For most of us, that’s music. And a few groups have already hit it off, talking about new projects.”
What projects, you ask? Well, on the heavier side we’ve got Lazarus Reaction: Layne Staley (Alice In Chains) and Andrew Wood (Mother Love Bone) as a double vocal threat, Dimebag Darrell (Pantera) on guitar, Cliff Burton (Metallica) on bass and Eric Carr (Kiss) filling out the roster on drums. An interesting mix – as long as they don’t pull an Audioslave and turn into giant wusses.
After finding some “connections” in town, the psychedelic crew smoked out and started a drum circle: John Bonham rocked the center, while Jerry Garcia and Janis Joplin spouted poetry over the beats – Jim Morrison has already passed out.
The most unexpected project was an old-timey jug band – being co-led by Kevin Dubrow (Quiet Riot) and Tupac Shakur. Dubrow had this to say: “We all had our own things going on in life, and we saw how well those ended - it's time for something different. And the Big Bopper over there plays a surprisingly good washtub bass.”
Bon Scott (AC/DC), Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan were seen practicing together. Later, Jam-Master J (Run DMC) laid down some beats in the background. Early word around town is that this is the undead collaboration to beat.
The most surprisingly missing person from this collection, though? When pressed where Elvis might be, George Harrison responded: “C’mon, man – everybody knows that Elvis never really died.”
A reporter for the New Orleans Times was brave enough to approach Buddy Holly and ask what they all wanted: “Most of us just want to get back to work. And take a shower – I don’t know if you noticed, but we stink a bit.” The problem is that no one wants to work with the deceased legends – barring Ringo Starr, who was actually at the scene begging John Lennon to tour with him. Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl, when asked if a Nirvana reunion tour might be possible now that Kurt Cobain is back, responded: “No way, man! I’ve seen this movie – everything starts out fine, then the next thing you know, someone’s getting their brains gnawed on… But if he wants to go see Courtney, that would be cool. (laughs).”
Papa LeBeau insists that wouldn’t happen, though: “These aren’t Zombies, that’s a different kind of mojo. This is more powerful magic – they should all be pretty close to how they were before they died.” So, what are these idols of millions planning now? George Harrison, who seems to have been appointed spokesperson for the group, had this to say: “We just want to return to some semblance of a “normal life”, whatever that may be. For most of us, that’s music. And a few groups have already hit it off, talking about new projects.”
What projects, you ask? Well, on the heavier side we’ve got Lazarus Reaction: Layne Staley (Alice In Chains) and Andrew Wood (Mother Love Bone) as a double vocal threat, Dimebag Darrell (Pantera) on guitar, Cliff Burton (Metallica) on bass and Eric Carr (Kiss) filling out the roster on drums. An interesting mix – as long as they don’t pull an Audioslave and turn into giant wusses.
After finding some “connections” in town, the psychedelic crew smoked out and started a drum circle: John Bonham rocked the center, while Jerry Garcia and Janis Joplin spouted poetry over the beats – Jim Morrison has already passed out.
The most unexpected project was an old-timey jug band – being co-led by Kevin Dubrow (Quiet Riot) and Tupac Shakur. Dubrow had this to say: “We all had our own things going on in life, and we saw how well those ended - it's time for something different. And the Big Bopper over there plays a surprisingly good washtub bass.”
Bon Scott (AC/DC), Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan were seen practicing together. Later, Jam-Master J (Run DMC) laid down some beats in the background. Early word around town is that this is the undead collaboration to beat.
The most surprisingly missing person from this collection, though? When pressed where Elvis might be, George Harrison responded: “C’mon, man – everybody knows that Elvis never really died.”
Monday, March 31, 2008
Save My Fictional World Take 2 – Reaper
So, you think you’ve got a weird relationship with your parents? Well, how about if you woke up on your 21st birthday to find out Mom and Dad sold your soul to the Devil before you were even born? Your Mom’s nagging suddenly doesn’t seem so bad, does it?
That’s the premise of Reaper, a freshman dramedy from the CW network. Early hype about the show stemmed from the Pilot episode, which was directed by Kevin Smith (of Clerks fame), who helped tweak the original script and is listed as a show consultant. His humor works well with the levity of the storylines and dialogue, and some of the characters could easily have been in his mockingly reverent religious piece Dogma. But the writers needed little direction with this increasingly fun romp spit from the bowels of Hell.
We follow Sam, the layaway soul in question, as he learns of his parents’ dark secret. Suddenly things make a little more sense, though – Ma and Pa always cut him a little too much slack, letting him skip college, get a dead-end job at the Work Bench (a kind of mash-up of Home Depot and Best Buy) and generally become a slacker layabout. It’s like they were guilty about something… Well at that 21st birthday marker, the Devil (played by the perfectly cast Ray Wise – who brings a wonderful blend of smarmy glibness and unimaginable evil to the mix) carjacks Sam to let him in on his new part-time gig. As it turns out, not all evil souls are content staying in Hell. As they escape, Sam will now get tasked to bring them back. He is equipped each time with a vessel to collect the soul – ranging from a Dirt Devil to a radio-controlled truck.
That’s a lot for one guy to handle. Enter the sidekicks: Sock (the goofball best friend and slacker mentor) and Ben (the most studious of the bunch, and a reverend’s son). These two (who conveniently work with Sam) are quickly let in on the secret, and end up as Sam’s backup and researchers. Since none of the trio really knows what they’re doing (and the Devil sure isn’t going to help), hilarity ensues. The gang is completed by Andi (a fellow Work Bench-er, and Sam’s from afar love interest), Sock’s ex-girlfriend Josie, and assorted family members, demons and annoying managers. Two of the most welcome recent additions are two gay "reformed" demons who live next to the main trio – played by two former members of the comedy troupe “The State” (Michael Ian Black and Ken Marino).
Does it all sound a bit silly? It is - but in the best of ways. Critics seem to be saying that the show has strayed from the original promise of the Pilot episode, getting a bit goofy. Well, I think that the show started with comedic overtones, and continues to improve. And the underlying mythology grows weekly – we know that there is something more to the deal for Sam’s soul that the Devil isn’t sharing, that Sam’s father is hiding something, that Sam may be dating the Devil’s daughter – and leaves you wanting more.
Current Status : 50/50. The CW liked the show enough to order a batch of post-strike episodes, which is more chance than a lot of shows got. But then again, The CW doesn’t have much in the way of scripted programming, so that could have influenced the decision. No word on a fall pickup yet.
What Can You Do? : Start watching the show! It’s pretty easy to jump onboard if you haven’t been watching – plenty of “Previously on…” recaps at the start of most episodes, with the new batch starting up on April 22. Plus, the CW offers some past shows streamed on their web site, or you can download episodes on iTunes. If these last few get a bump in viewership, things could look much more rosy for Sam and the crew – and we wouldn’t want to see rabid fans sending scythes to the network to get their point across…
That’s the premise of Reaper, a freshman dramedy from the CW network. Early hype about the show stemmed from the Pilot episode, which was directed by Kevin Smith (of Clerks fame), who helped tweak the original script and is listed as a show consultant. His humor works well with the levity of the storylines and dialogue, and some of the characters could easily have been in his mockingly reverent religious piece Dogma. But the writers needed little direction with this increasingly fun romp spit from the bowels of Hell.
We follow Sam, the layaway soul in question, as he learns of his parents’ dark secret. Suddenly things make a little more sense, though – Ma and Pa always cut him a little too much slack, letting him skip college, get a dead-end job at the Work Bench (a kind of mash-up of Home Depot and Best Buy) and generally become a slacker layabout. It’s like they were guilty about something… Well at that 21st birthday marker, the Devil (played by the perfectly cast Ray Wise – who brings a wonderful blend of smarmy glibness and unimaginable evil to the mix) carjacks Sam to let him in on his new part-time gig. As it turns out, not all evil souls are content staying in Hell. As they escape, Sam will now get tasked to bring them back. He is equipped each time with a vessel to collect the soul – ranging from a Dirt Devil to a radio-controlled truck.
That’s a lot for one guy to handle. Enter the sidekicks: Sock (the goofball best friend and slacker mentor) and Ben (the most studious of the bunch, and a reverend’s son). These two (who conveniently work with Sam) are quickly let in on the secret, and end up as Sam’s backup and researchers. Since none of the trio really knows what they’re doing (and the Devil sure isn’t going to help), hilarity ensues. The gang is completed by Andi (a fellow Work Bench-er, and Sam’s from afar love interest), Sock’s ex-girlfriend Josie, and assorted family members, demons and annoying managers. Two of the most welcome recent additions are two gay "reformed" demons who live next to the main trio – played by two former members of the comedy troupe “The State” (Michael Ian Black and Ken Marino).
Does it all sound a bit silly? It is - but in the best of ways. Critics seem to be saying that the show has strayed from the original promise of the Pilot episode, getting a bit goofy. Well, I think that the show started with comedic overtones, and continues to improve. And the underlying mythology grows weekly – we know that there is something more to the deal for Sam’s soul that the Devil isn’t sharing, that Sam’s father is hiding something, that Sam may be dating the Devil’s daughter – and leaves you wanting more.
Current Status : 50/50. The CW liked the show enough to order a batch of post-strike episodes, which is more chance than a lot of shows got. But then again, The CW doesn’t have much in the way of scripted programming, so that could have influenced the decision. No word on a fall pickup yet.
What Can You Do? : Start watching the show! It’s pretty easy to jump onboard if you haven’t been watching – plenty of “Previously on…” recaps at the start of most episodes, with the new batch starting up on April 22. Plus, the CW offers some past shows streamed on their web site, or you can download episodes on iTunes. If these last few get a bump in viewership, things could look much more rosy for Sam and the crew – and we wouldn’t want to see rabid fans sending scythes to the network to get their point across…
Friday, March 28, 2008
Save My Fictional World Take 1 - Friday Night Lights
“Reality” TV – I’m sick of it. I mean that ill feeling starting way down in the toes, coupled with an anger that may lead me to throttle a network exec. I mean, seriously, how many more shows do we need about “Bachelor Midget-Throwing Nanny Swappers” or the like? Well, do you know how to stop the madness? START WATCHING GOOD SCRIPTED SHOWS! Don’t say, “Hey that Scrubs shore do look funny”. To save shows from the chopping block, people actually need to watch them. Then tell a friend. And tell that friend to choke a network exec for me – trust me, it’ll all work out in a circle of life kind of way.
What we need for scripted shows to survive is ratings, word of mouth and sometimes a good old-fashioned rally cry. There are a bunch of shows “on the bubble” right now – somewhere between renewal and cancellation. Don’t let more crap take their spots – in a world where an entire reality TV channel is a frightening truth, tell them from on high that you want your fake back! I’ve got a few shows worth saving – here’s my first:
Friday Night Lights - Okay, I’ll admit that I was reluctant with this one. I don’t love sports, and the Pilot episode was fairly centered on the big Dillon Panthers football game. But once you realize how well that one hour set up the characters and plot for the entire season, you begin to see how craftily these writers tell their tale. And soon after, you’re sucked in and actually giving a crap – it’s a really quick transition, so don’t get whiplash.
The basic plot follows Eric Taylor (new coach of this Texas high school team), his wife Tami (guidance counselor – yes, at the same school) and daughter Julie (smarty-pants cutie who certainly knows batter than to date an athlete. Hee-hee – yeah, that doesn’t last long). We are treated to (or frightened by, depending on your view) an inside look at how much small town football can mean when there’s nothing else around, and the politics surrounding that existence. Buddy Garrity embodies the ideals of the town, being a former football player, a current team supporter, a sleazy car salesman and father to cheerleader Lyla (who, naturally, is dating the lead quarterback). More deals are made or broken in Dillon, Texas because of football than nearly anything else.
And of course, there’s the team itself – ranging from Jason Street (aforementioned lead QB, who is quickly sidelined) to Matt Saracen (backup QB, with an Opie-caught-in-the-headlights kind of innocence) to the over-the-top “Smash” Williams (a mix between a southern rapper, a Baptist minister and a mama’s boy) to Tim Riggins (a drunk, a slacker, most likely to sleep with your girlfriend – but utterly likeable). And there are too many supporting characters to name – girlfriends, best friends, cute neighbor kids – who seamlessly blend into this tale. The writers give a real sense of community and how it all fits together. And you’ll even learn to forgive them for the occasional “Throwing dead bodies over a bridge” or “Wow, I’m suddenly a born-again religious nut” plotlines. Really, you will.
Current Status: Better than some – NBC is working to get a cable channel to help foot the bill for the show, much like they did with Law & Order and the USA Network (both are owned by the same parent company). This would likely give the cable net first airings, with NBC running the episodes shortly after. The biggest supporter for the show may be DirecTV actually looks to be a frontrunner in helping pick it up right now. The ratings that a show like this gets on a major net may not seem huge, but for a cable/satellite show, the ratings from a built-in audience could be a coup.
What Can You Do?: Buy the DVDs or download episodes from iTunes and get caught up with a great show and jump on now. The other route is to go to savefridaynightlights.tv – who are sending mini-footballs to NBC execs to get the renewal message across. Either way, hopefully you’ll be as excited as a neighbor kid exclaiming “Tim Riggins! Tim Riggins is bangin’ my Momma!”. If you watched the show, you may have already gotten that joke – see how behind you are.
See you soon for more picks…
What we need for scripted shows to survive is ratings, word of mouth and sometimes a good old-fashioned rally cry. There are a bunch of shows “on the bubble” right now – somewhere between renewal and cancellation. Don’t let more crap take their spots – in a world where an entire reality TV channel is a frightening truth, tell them from on high that you want your fake back! I’ve got a few shows worth saving – here’s my first:
Friday Night Lights - Okay, I’ll admit that I was reluctant with this one. I don’t love sports, and the Pilot episode was fairly centered on the big Dillon Panthers football game. But once you realize how well that one hour set up the characters and plot for the entire season, you begin to see how craftily these writers tell their tale. And soon after, you’re sucked in and actually giving a crap – it’s a really quick transition, so don’t get whiplash.
The basic plot follows Eric Taylor (new coach of this Texas high school team), his wife Tami (guidance counselor – yes, at the same school) and daughter Julie (smarty-pants cutie who certainly knows batter than to date an athlete. Hee-hee – yeah, that doesn’t last long). We are treated to (or frightened by, depending on your view) an inside look at how much small town football can mean when there’s nothing else around, and the politics surrounding that existence. Buddy Garrity embodies the ideals of the town, being a former football player, a current team supporter, a sleazy car salesman and father to cheerleader Lyla (who, naturally, is dating the lead quarterback). More deals are made or broken in Dillon, Texas because of football than nearly anything else.
And of course, there’s the team itself – ranging from Jason Street (aforementioned lead QB, who is quickly sidelined) to Matt Saracen (backup QB, with an Opie-caught-in-the-headlights kind of innocence) to the over-the-top “Smash” Williams (a mix between a southern rapper, a Baptist minister and a mama’s boy) to Tim Riggins (a drunk, a slacker, most likely to sleep with your girlfriend – but utterly likeable). And there are too many supporting characters to name – girlfriends, best friends, cute neighbor kids – who seamlessly blend into this tale. The writers give a real sense of community and how it all fits together. And you’ll even learn to forgive them for the occasional “Throwing dead bodies over a bridge” or “Wow, I’m suddenly a born-again religious nut” plotlines. Really, you will.
Current Status: Better than some – NBC is working to get a cable channel to help foot the bill for the show, much like they did with Law & Order and the USA Network (both are owned by the same parent company). This would likely give the cable net first airings, with NBC running the episodes shortly after. The biggest supporter for the show may be DirecTV actually looks to be a frontrunner in helping pick it up right now. The ratings that a show like this gets on a major net may not seem huge, but for a cable/satellite show, the ratings from a built-in audience could be a coup.
What Can You Do?: Buy the DVDs or download episodes from iTunes and get caught up with a great show and jump on now. The other route is to go to savefridaynightlights.tv – who are sending mini-footballs to NBC execs to get the renewal message across. Either way, hopefully you’ll be as excited as a neighbor kid exclaiming “Tim Riggins! Tim Riggins is bangin’ my Momma!”. If you watched the show, you may have already gotten that joke – see how behind you are.
See you soon for more picks…
Monday, March 24, 2008
It Came From The MP3 Vault – Volume 1
When you’re growing up, one of the choices that you make about the life ahead seems trivial: Are you a Music person or a Sports person? Few people seem to straddle that fine line between the two and exist in both worlds – one generally knows a lot about one or the other, and maybe enough to get by in a small-talk-by-the-water-cooler fashion on the second. Since I don’t know what end of a baseball to pick up, you can guess what category I fall under.
Yes, I’ve always had a passion for music, but not a damn bit of talent for playing it. So I like to listen to as much as possible – as many bands, across the spectrum, that I can get my greedy hands on. But there’s so much that I can barely fit it on my MP3 player anymore. And I’ve got a 30gb drive, so do the math on that…
In an effort to weed out the good from the bad and clear some space, I’m trying to crank through some of these albums. I’ll share my quick takes on these albums as I go through them, so that you might share in my pleasant surprises while avoiding the crap.
Here’s the first batch:
Operator – Soulcrusher – Do you remember when Chris Cornell wasn’t eating crepes at his new home in France (I Mean, FRANCE? Really?), or playing in the crappy supergroup that turned him into a pussified version of a rock star? There was that little band called that blew the doors off the joint? Yeah?
Well, the title track off of Soulcrusher came out shortly after Audioslave broke up, and I had this brief glimmer of hope that Cornell’s inner badass had resurfaced in some new project. The vocals could easily have been vintage Soundgarden, but the DJ would tell us otherwise. Operator, hmmm? I got the album in hopes that the rest of the songs could live up to the hype. It did.
Verdict: Rockin’ out mit der Schnitzel out (Keeper).
Citizen Cope – Every Waking Moment – Okay, I was looking for the album with the radio single “Bullet and a Target” on it. This isn’t the one - I just figured they were on their freshman effort. I can’t vouch for what the other disc sounds like, but I couldn’t even make it through this one. Slow and bland, not much holding it together.
Verdict: Stinks like bad cheese.
Lyle Lovett And His Large Band – It’s Not Big It’s Large – This one was for my girlfriend originally. Never cared one way or another about the man – just knew he was an odd looking bird with tall plumage. But giving this a listen – a mixed bag of up-tempo big band sounds and some slow churners - the man does have style. I may just be a convert after all.
Verdict: Oh, it’s large (Keeper).
Papa Roach – The Paramour Sessions – Liked these guys when they first came out, but their first efforts seemed a little disjointed. Lost track of what they were doing, just assuming they were defunct. But heard “Forever” from this disc on the radio, and I was surprised at their growth. I’m sure some would say the noise level has been too toned down, and now they whine about love and loss too much. But it’s nowhere near the degradation that Staind saw between releases, not do they suffer from any kind of emo-whining. Overall, a solid rock disc.
Verdict: Devil horns up high (Keeper).
This was fun - I think you'll be seeing these more often...
Yes, I’ve always had a passion for music, but not a damn bit of talent for playing it. So I like to listen to as much as possible – as many bands, across the spectrum, that I can get my greedy hands on. But there’s so much that I can barely fit it on my MP3 player anymore. And I’ve got a 30gb drive, so do the math on that…
In an effort to weed out the good from the bad and clear some space, I’m trying to crank through some of these albums. I’ll share my quick takes on these albums as I go through them, so that you might share in my pleasant surprises while avoiding the crap.
Here’s the first batch:
Operator – Soulcrusher – Do you remember when Chris Cornell wasn’t eating crepes at his new home in France (I Mean, FRANCE? Really?), or playing in the crappy supergroup that turned him into a pussified version of a rock star? There was that little band called that blew the doors off the joint? Yeah?
Well, the title track off of Soulcrusher came out shortly after Audioslave broke up, and I had this brief glimmer of hope that Cornell’s inner badass had resurfaced in some new project. The vocals could easily have been vintage Soundgarden, but the DJ would tell us otherwise. Operator, hmmm? I got the album in hopes that the rest of the songs could live up to the hype. It did.
Verdict: Rockin’ out mit der Schnitzel out (Keeper).
Citizen Cope – Every Waking Moment – Okay, I was looking for the album with the radio single “Bullet and a Target” on it. This isn’t the one - I just figured they were on their freshman effort. I can’t vouch for what the other disc sounds like, but I couldn’t even make it through this one. Slow and bland, not much holding it together.
Verdict: Stinks like bad cheese.
Lyle Lovett And His Large Band – It’s Not Big It’s Large – This one was for my girlfriend originally. Never cared one way or another about the man – just knew he was an odd looking bird with tall plumage. But giving this a listen – a mixed bag of up-tempo big band sounds and some slow churners - the man does have style. I may just be a convert after all.
Verdict: Oh, it’s large (Keeper).
Papa Roach – The Paramour Sessions – Liked these guys when they first came out, but their first efforts seemed a little disjointed. Lost track of what they were doing, just assuming they were defunct. But heard “Forever” from this disc on the radio, and I was surprised at their growth. I’m sure some would say the noise level has been too toned down, and now they whine about love and loss too much. But it’s nowhere near the degradation that Staind saw between releases, not do they suffer from any kind of emo-whining. Overall, a solid rock disc.
Verdict: Devil horns up high (Keeper).
This was fun - I think you'll be seeing these more often...
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