Sweet Trip - You will never know why 6.1

                When I listen to this, I’m reminded heavily of the sort of pysch lounge perfected by The High Llamas and Stereolab. That’s not a bad thing. If you’re going to pick a sound to mine, why not choose something everyone will enjoy. For the most part, this is an enjoyable if not entirely original album. 

                “You will never know why” revolves around ambient pop and shoegaze. “Acting” starts out smoothly before revving up and slowing down. Really the slower, mellower parts are the better pieces of their album. For me, their attempts at urgency fall flat. There are many bands who do fast music well, I figure they should probably stay within their comfort zone. When “Acting” quickens up, I sort of wish they’d get back to the spaced-out sounds offered in the beginning or the end. Oddly, they kill their own mood for no discernible reason.

                The rest of the album passes by pleasantly enough. After a while I grow a bit sick at the lack of sonic diversity. Sure, I’m a fan of minimalism but they use the same beats and patterns over and over again. I wish they had perhaps varied things up a little bit in terms of the sound and kept the tempos a bit lower. Together both of those minor tweaks might have made me a bit more receptive towards this album. 

                As a result, I’m a bit lukewarm to this collection of songs. Spending a whole hour with this San Francisco based band wasn’t horrible but merely uneventful. Had I seen more songs like “Acting” I could see myself enjoying it a lot more.

Numbers – In My Mind All the Time 6.5

Maybe I’m reviewing this a little too late; the jerky rhythm punk might be finished by now. Despite this problem, I re-listened to this tiny album/EP and remembered why I enjoyed these guys in the first place. Eventually they even evolved onto writing full-fledged songs, but here they are clearly in the short bursts mode here.

                Even though a lot of this album sounds a bit expendable, there’s enough originality to save it. Featuring prominent in the recording are a broken sounding synthesizer and elementary drums set. The vocals are drunken and shouted. Within these self-imposed limitations, they are able to craft some surprisingly sweet pop hooks. 

                Tigerbeat6 should have decided to go down this route a little more, and branch out the way that Warp did with its rock acts. I forgive them though, since they are a much smaller label with far less clout. Probably the best tracks on here would be the ear-candy of “Anything” and the surprisingly different droning end “Feelings” which sort of signaled the longer form songs they explore on later recordings.

Deerhoof – Deerhoof Vs. Evil 8.7

               Deerhoof wins against evil. It’s so clear to me, a band that’s been around since 1994 manages to put out a quality product. Actually, I’ve always been a fan of these guys, but this is probably the best stuff they’ve put out for a while. 

                I know they are a hyperactive band, but they are in happiness overdrive. Each song bristles with enthusiasm, even the darker ones. There are some positively excellent moments, those short bursts of energy I don’t find on every album, or even with every band. Deerhoof excels with this glee, creating so many memorable little moments within their sonic universe.

                For one, there are actual acoustic guitars on here, like “Behold a Marvel in the Darkness”. Granted, it does explode into drum chaos as they are wont to do. The drums hit just as hard as before, indeed, that’s one of their main draws. Satomi’s voice fits with the band better than usual, and her singing is delightful.

                Oddly, even the male vocals on here are enjoyable. Usually that had been a previous sore point with their music. Here it finds its place. “Must Fight Current” has an interesting back and forth between the two of them. Well, it isn’t quite a back and forth, they are too unconventional for that. Instead it adds a level of tenderness they often lack.

                There are so many highlights; all the pieces just come together. Each song fits in with the next. Some songs have their sweetness come out of left field. “The Merry Barracks” starts out as a discordant jam. Guitars jut out with a lazy beat. Over halfway in, it blasts off in that drum intensity they excel at and virtually invented. 

Humor’s another big part of what they do. “Hey I Can” manages to create a chorus out of Satomi tossing out “La la’s” and “fa fa’s”. Though the humor gets even sillier for “I Did Crimes for You” with handclaps and her pronouncement that “This is a stick-up” with her weird delivery.

My hope is I get to see them live again. I’ve probably seen them live more than almost any other band; they have a bizarre stage presence. The drummer is a gentle giant. She did something with these Velcro fruits during the Milkman tour. I remember thinking “Yeah baby, you can attach those Velcro fruits to me” and then wondering if perhaps I’d passed that threshold from normal to near obsessive music fanatic or if I just found her cute. 

Either way, I enjoyed this more than I expected. I hope this bring them an even bigger audience. Here’s hoping.

Movie Review: Pauly Shore’s: The Notebook **Warning: Spoilers**

Face of the lobotomized generation

Pauly Shore is one of the greatest film directors the world has ever seen. Besides directing such timeless classics as “Pauly Shore’s ‘Adopted” and “My Big Fat Independent Movie”, he’s also focused on his own mortality. “Pauly Shore is Dead” focuses on his death as a way of jump-starting his stalled career. A career which gave us such touching films like “Bio-Dome” and the lush beauty of “In the Army Now” which comments heavily on America’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Anyway, Pauly explains in countless interviews about his latest film: “The Notebook”. In this he tries to tell a story about two lovers and their journey to become one. Much of the film is based off of his own experiences, making it the most personal film he’s ever written. Parts of the movie will make you feel, Pauly assures us. Below is a synopsis of the plot, so if you want to protect yourself against spoilers, skip the below.

The movie begins with an elderly man reading a story on an ancient IPAD to a brain in a jar. Slowly the scene fades away to a time long ago, in the year 3187 on the planet Zybex. Back then the brain actually had a body and it belonged in a woman, a ravishing woman who played softball in her spare time. Jill Albright’s compassion towards others was legendary in the Van Dyke galaxy. Played with stunning gusto by Lindsay Lohan, she longs for someone to help her get off of the planet, which is soon going to be invaded by the Empire.

Pauly Shore plays the benevolent goofball Jack Corazza, a young recruit in the green Infantry. Answering the call of duty as set forth by the planet’s leader Ralph Nader (played by Christopher Walken), Jack is determined to save his planet from the invading hordes of the Empire’s armies. Collecting water on the top of a large hill along with Jill, Jack and Jill really hit it off. We see through flashbacks that they attended the same High School, but back then Jack and Jill were merely friends with benefits. Happy at the prospect of having their first true love, Jack and Jill roll down the hill and are about to hit the ground hard. 

Instead of falling down and breaking their crowns, they aim to hit the ground softly and miss. Together the two fly above into the planet’s atmosphere. Worried about a lack of oxygen at such a high altitude, the power of their love encases them in a protective shell. Looking forward, they see the giant battleships of the Empire rapidly heading towards their planet.

A long take shows off the size and might of the ships. You finally get to see the evil overlord whose armies have been taking over vast chunks of the universe. The Dark Lord is a bloodthirsty, deviant and emotionally stunted great man played by Jason Schwartzman. Jason Schwartzman’s performance is similar to his role as Max Fisher, except that he’s a vicious master trying to work through Daddy issues. His top general Kurt Wagner (played by Jackie Chan) informs them of the provisions needed for the troops. So that means they’ll have to make a stop in the Whole Foods planet first. Also, Kurt informs the Dark Lord of dangerously low supplies of reduced fat sun chips.

Jack and Jill land on the robot planet. They are both distraught and worried about their loved ones, their friends, their families who are right in harm’s way. While exploring the planet, searching for a quiet, low-key bar or bowling alley to hang out in, they meet Optimus Prime (played by Steve Buscemi). As they wish they could be big and strong like Optimus, Optimus tells them otherwise. Optimus explains how as robots they can’t experience love, and how he would gladly trade his body for just a mere day as being a human. Bubblebee (played by Bjork) comes along and agrees with him. Together Jack and Jill undergo an experimental procedure to obtain their robotic bodies.

Flying back to their home planet, they realize all is not lost. Seeing how the Empire is at the local Whole Foods planet, a showdown occurs. But the quick-witted Jack and Jill use Kombucha bottles as weapons. By shaking them really hard, they explode in the troop’s faces, temporarily blinding them. Using that short amount of time, they blast away most of the army. Defeated, the Dark Lord heads back to his native planet of San Francisco to ban plastic bags and happy meals.

Back to the hospital room, we see the brain in the jar placed into a new, beautiful, young woman’s body. The old man has his brain sucked out by a vacuum cleaner and placed into a virile young man’s body. What Pauly is telling us in this scene is that love is eternal and knows no physical bonds, since in the future we can place our brains into new bodies. 

Hopefully Pauly Shore will continue to bring enlightenment to the movie-going masses. Think of him as the Martin Scorsese of the lobotomized generation.