Midlake : The Trial of Van Occupather : a review
About a year ago, i discovered the deliciousness of a band called Midlake. Their first full album, Banham and Silvercork, graced my cd player for long periods of time, as i learned every word and sang along with the magic that was contained in the music. i heard that the new album, The Trial of Van Occupanther, was scheduled to hit the US a few days ago, and i was there on that faithful tuesday to pay hommage to their new accomplishment.
If i had no prior knowledge of this band’s music, i would have immediately been enchanted. As the first notes oozed out of my speakers, thoughts of Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan came alive in my aural memory as i listened to the sleepy voice of Tim Smith murmur through the first several songs. i continued on, soaking up the 70’s influenced songs; warm songs that make you smile and gaze out the window, longing for a popsicle. But i had to listen to the album 6 times before i could even write a single word of this review.
While i was listening, i KNEW the songs were good, and i knew that what i was listening to was great stuff, but it wasn’t/isn’t the Midlake that i fell in love with over the last year. The odd sounds were mostly gone, replaced with more conventional instrumentation. These sounds were what made Midlake who they are, and now they are just writing good songs that have stuck out their thumb and gone hitchhiking into the FM airwaves of the 70’s.
Please understand that i still am digging on this album, and i continue to listen, gaining an appreciation for what they have become, but i now think of them as a different band so i can enjoy them more than i do. And luckily, it’s starting to work.
More 48 hour info
As i patiently wait for the Rockstar Table Tennis demo to download on my xbox360, i decided to post some more information concerning the 48 hour film project that we were so priviledged to be a part of this past weekend.
First of all, and thanks to aaron, here is a youtube link to the movie.
For those who want the full experience, you can see the movie, along with many of the others, at the Belcourt this upcoming week. Here are the days and times. We are in group B. Super Fun Gunslingin’ Club.
i think my download is almost complete, so i will now enjoy some digital table tennis.
the 48 hour film project
44 teams entered the Nashville 48 Hour Film Project this year. This year, there are more than 1000 filmmaking teams around the world competing to make the best short film in just 48 hours, and we decided to join the madness. Since i put our team together, i assumed the role of producer, which was an amazing experience.
Here is a somewhat brief summary of the filmmaking process for our team: Super Fun Gunslingin’ Club.
Friday, 7pm: All the film makers assemble at JJ’s Market in Nashville to get their theme, a character they had to use, a prop that had to be in the film, and a line of dialog. We drew “Silent Film” as our genre, but opted for the Wild Card, which ended up being “Historical Fiction/Period Piece”. The character was Fred or Fay Maloney, the prop was a wagon, and our line of dialog was “Go ahead, walk all over me.” With that information in hand, i contacted the part of our crew who was helping write the screenplay and gave them the information, while i carefully drove to meet them at Andy’s flat. Aaron, the director/editor and Kelley, the production manager, were both with Andy as we started brainstorming ideas with me on the phone.
Friday, 8pm: As we come up with ideas, Morgan and Marion join us, helping us do research on time periods. We quickly decided to go for the 1980’s and started coming up with ideas inside of that era.
Friday, late: We write the script. Everyone finally leaves until only Andy and i remain, frantically trying to finish the script. After a few read throughs, we realize that the script is a touch long, but will be easy to edit down, and i leave his flat around 2:45am.
Saturday, 7am: The crew arrives at the Mad Platter, an amazing restaurant in Germantown, near downtown Nashville. Our sound crew consists of Evan, Chris, and Bryan, and Aaron, our director, is also behind the camera. We’ve cast our actors: Andy, Marion, Ashley, Morgan, and myself each settle into roles, and we start donning our 80’s garb and going over the script after a few edits are made.
Saturday, up to 3pm: We film the movie, 97% there at the Mad Platter. We promptly try to put the restaurant back together at 2:30 so they can prepare to open the restaurant at 5pm.
Saturday, 4pm: We head to Chris and Evan’s apartment, which was absolutely perfect for this event. The apartment is 3 floors, the bottom floor being a sound studio and where all the technical people set up. The middle floor had the kitchen, some computers, and a few couches, and the top floor had 2 bedrooms for tired actors/crew people to crash in. We eat a delicious meal, prepared by Kelley, and the tech people get to work.
Saturday, 5pm-?: This is where it starts getting fuzzy, as far as times are concerned. We listen to an 80’s style song that Evan and the guys wrote the night before, and we write and record another. Aaron pulls all the video down from the camera and starts to edit. We realize around 8 or 9pm that we used the name “Mahoney” rather than “Maloney”, which is not good. There were 9 places where the name was mentioned, so we planned to punch the names in later that night. i decided to try to get a little sleep, as people did all throughout the evening.
Sunday, 3am: i’m awoken to prepare to do some voice-overs. A few hours later, we realize that the sound is very inconsistent, and the voice overs are working. The decision has been made by the sound team to do 80% of the audio over. Keep in mind that our movie is almost all dialog. i redo every line, as does almost everyone in the cast. We were able to keep a scene or two, luckily.
Sunday, 10amish: Kelley makes a delicious breakfast for us. The sound guys start mixing down the audio while Aaron is trying to render video and get the credits to render as well. Technical difficulties start to surface, yet everyone is calm and continues on.
Sunday, 1pm: We are finishing overdubs and recording Foley (sound effects).
Sunday, 3pm: We write a song for the end credits, record it, and have it ready for Aaron to enter into the movie, along with the other sound. We’re starting to cut it close, but everyone is still incredibly calm and collected.
Sunday, 6pm: Crunch time. Still having a few technical difficulties, yet Aaron is completely calm, or at least is looking calm. i’m a little edgy, but trying to not stress anyone out. Two copies of the movie have to be at JJ’s Market no later than 7:30pm, and we’re 15 minutes from there. Aaron finishes, and we start transferring the video from Aaron’s computer to the camera, where the miniDV tape is hanging out, awaiting our movie.
Sunday, 7:10pm: Andy and i sprint to the car with all of the paperwork in hand, and 1 copy of the movie. Marion is 15 minutes behind us with the other tape.
Sunday, 7:25pm: Andy and i arrive with 5 minutes to spare, but we hang in the back, waiting for Marion to deliver the 2nd tape. A sigh of relief.
Notes: Our team was amazing. Everyone gave everything they had, filling roles and doing things to make sure that everything got done. i can’t say how proud i am of our group, and how amazing the weekend was. Every problem that came up, we found a way around it, and there was very little complaining. Thanks everyone.
A Scanner Darkley
When i first saw the trailer for this film, i wrote it down on a list, buried it in my backyard, and then dug it up months later and showed it to someone who told me that they didn’t care about dirty paper. Then i heard that Radiohead and Thom Yorke were going to contribute some songs for the film, and i pulled out the paper again, smoothed it so i could read it, then tried to feed it to my cat because he’ll eat just about anything.
The film is bizarre. From what i’ve read, it is extremely close to the book, which is a rare thing, but considering i have not read the story, i had nothing to judge it by except for the film itself. The movie is a great social commentary on drug addiction, which is something the author’s life was influenced by in negative ways.
The cast does a great job of making you believe the story. Robert Downy Jr. is superbly insane in the film, and Woody Harrelson is even good. A Scanner Darkley is often hard to follow, yet starts making sense towards the end, and it’s better if you can have someone to talk through it with.
A-
the eraser – thom yorke
Many people, including myself, thought that the new Thom Yorke album, The Eraser, was going to basically be Thom fulfulling his electronic fantasies that he started to implement when Radiohead came out with Kid A. Well, that’s kind of what he did. BUT, i like it. Of course, keep in mind that i’m a HUGE Thom Yorke fan and am rarely swayed away from his hypnosis.
The Eraser is basic electronica, reminding me of Telephone Tel Aviv with Thom Yorke singing over it. Apparently he did most of the programming and instrumentation off of his laptop, then pulled in Nigel Godrich to do some producing and magic on it. The end result is a political/emotional exploration of Yorke’s ghosts, filled with his haunting wail and his not original, yet coherent sounds. It may be what people expected, or maybe even disappointed several of you, but i really enjoy it.
Favorite track – 1. The Eraser.
the Kracken
Pirates of the Carribean 2 was viewed yesterday by sh4wn, and this is what he had to say about it:
Special Effects: A+. i could only tell the movie was green screened once, but over all…amazing.
Acting: A. Even Kiera had me sold. Depp wasn’t quite as good as the first one, but still great. Orlando needs to stick to action movies like this and avoid the romantic movies.
Story: B+. Not as good as the first, but good.
Davy Jones: A+. That guy just rules. Anyone that has a squid for a head gets can be my friend. Unless he tries to eat me or something…
The Kracken: A+. Wow.
i have to say that this movie must be experienced in the theater. go. go now.
random list (!!!)
chk chk chk (!!!)
a bear, eating those who didn’t come to the show last night
4 midgets, one of them named Lefticus
Skyline Chili
a trunk full of squirrels
Brad Pitt
squid-faced pirate
cans of salt covered rice
praying mantis
postitnotepaperwriter
me leaving work
the irresponsible firefighter
Today, while filling the vehicle with petrol, i noticed a regular red truck, with a yellow Nashville Fire Dept. logo on the door, getting gas at one of the pumps. The guy who was sitting in the driver’s seat, waiting for the pump to finish doing its job, was smoking a cigar, flicking his ashes on the ground. The way i look at it, there are signs EVERYWHERE that state “no smoking”, and this guy is supposedly an anti-fire kind of guy, working for the Nashville Fire Dept. It’s like me speaking out against promescuity and then going out and staring in porn films.
The obsurdity of life never gets too far away.
im conversation of the week
fatAndy: It looks like Sufjan will be playing the Ryman on Sept. 11
sh4wn: yeah…i saw that
sh4wn: interesting
sh4wn: what kind of name is Sufjan, anyway?
fatAndy: half klingon and half girl
sh4wn: i think he made it up
fatAndy: it’s actually a compound word
fatAndy: suf from suffer
fatAndy: and jan from January
fatAndy: suffer january, which is also what fat people call it after they make weight related new years resolutions
sh4wn: you think he used to be a big one?
fatAndy: maybe
fatAndy: maybe his parents are fatties
fatAndy: he stayed thin due to their constant dieting
sh4wn: maybe he’s allergic to ants
sh4wn: and not just ant bites
sh4wn: like
sh4wn: really allergic to being in the presence of ants
fatAndy: or maybe he is actually a million ants moving about under a skin suit. Like the ants found him in the woods and ate his inards. now they control his every move
fatAndy: it’s their way trying to lull us into a false sense of security while other ants find something big to squish US with
sh4wn: i’ve heard of stranger things
fatAndy: damn dirty ants
sh4wn: they really are out to get us
sh4wn: i’ve seen documentaries about it
fatAndy: never trust anything that can lift 50 times it weight and still doesn’t eat better than fallen crumbs and dirt
sh4wn: words to live by
fatAndy: true, my friend
fatAndy: true
Mix CD fest
For those who don’t check out yewknee.com on a regular basis, you’re missing out. Right now there is a mix CD collection of apocolyptic proportions on there for those who like mixes.
i may post a mix on there, but i’m not sure i have the time and energy right now, sadly. we’ll see what happens.
oh yeah, and a lowercase collective song (i am the bees) is on Doppleganger disc 1. thanks Michael.
