Man and Nature in Washington State

Just wait until they start interbreeding with killer bees!

Jah Trustafar-I

Until the hour that the Black Star Liner repatriate I and I to Rodeo Drive.

Markie goes to movies (so you don't have to)

X-Men: The Stand (dir. Brett Ratner) I'll be damned if I can figure out what in this not-bad summer junk movie motivated folks to spend $120,000,000 seeing it the first four days it was open. Not much of a storyline (you hear most of it in the trailer), and then that one goes off the rails early on, so you're left either (a) caring deeply about the various hearbreaks in store for mutant lovers (Jean Gray and Logan, Rogue and Cyclops) or (b) going "whoa" at the special effects. So better, I guess, than a lost Star Wars prequel episode, but not as good as Spider-Man I. Mark's review (stupid points): ??½

Internet Radio: Brainwashed

Truly psychedelic music for the discerning headtripper.

Heard In the Car: Green Pajamas

"This is Where We Disappear" from Through Glass Colored Roses (Hidden Agenda) A song about dying as ecstatic as "When I Get To The Border" or "When I Lay My Burdens Down," only in the sweet, 90s-psychedilic vein of someone like Sky Cries Mary. I've been listening to a lot of songs by this band lately. Glad they rescued Laura Weller after Capping Day sadly disbanded, and glad they found a kindered spirit in her. So I'd listen to this when I was in the mood for Byrds, electric Opal, early REM.

Markie goes to movies (so you don't have to)

The Lost City (dir. Andy Garcia) This mash-up of The Godfather Part II, Casablanca, and Scarface (with a little Red Dawn for seasoning) is wicked long. Lovers of big romantic dynastic-family stories will love it. Mark's rating: **

Listening: Grant McLennan

Horsebreaker Star (Beggar's Banquet) Anyone who knows about the Go Betweens know that one of the two leader/songwriters, Grant McLennan, died at a sadly early age (48) a few weeks ago. He and Robert Forster had been making records and touring again, and a lot more people seemed interested than seemed interested in the Eighties and early Nineties when they first recorded. I don't know their music well enough to speak with authority, but those who do say McLennan was the more pop, romantic of the two (Paul to Forster's John, etc.). I do know this record, made with a bunch of Athens, Georgia's finest in '94 is stone beautiful from end to end. In a more just world, this would have sold millions and John Mayer would be touring dump clubs.

Listening: Monk on Columbia Records

As anyone who's ever talked to me about music will attest, I consider Thelonious Monk one of the most advanced musical intelligences of my lifetime. Until recently, I'd rather snobbishly preferred his Blue Note and early Prestige albums (which had people like Art Blakey, Milt Jackson, and Sonny Rollins digging into Monk's compositions) and figured the many albums his quartet (with Charlie Rouse on tenor sax) made were the relaxed rewards for finally crossing over to mainstream jazz success. But the one thing I notice listening to the quartet sides (especially the two neat live dates, Live at the "It" Club and Live at the Jazz Workshop) is how much fun the band has with this music. You can tell how much being a working band has freed these musicians to stretch out a little. Come to think of it, that same feeling of confident playfulness was one of the reasons Live at Carnegie Hall with Coltrane was the jazz reissue of last year, if not of the last decade.

Markie goes to movies (so you don't have to)

The Poseidon Adventure (dir. Wolfgang Petersen) When I think of movies that need remakes, Titanic isn't the first one that comes to mind. But this one moves fast enough and wreaks enough snazzy havoc to help you overlook how little the state of the nautical disaster art has advanced since 1997. Just a lot of machinery and a lot of sucks-to-be-you unlucky humans (including Andre Braugher and Freddy Rodriguez, both of whom I hope made a lot of money) gone kablooey under a whole lotta water. P.S. to Fergie: Don't quit your day job! Mark's review (stupid points): ??½

What I'm Listening To

Paul Simon, Surprise (Warner Brothers) Well, I'll be damned--Paul Simon sounds like he just heard Peter Gabriel's music and thought the world of it. Actually, that's a compliment, since he teams up with Brian Eno for this collection, and the past 20 years of Adult Contemporary Hits, musical dramas, and money reunions with Garfunkel evaporate. Eno is such a wonderful collaborator--he finds interesting sounds and textures and rhythms but leaves Simon the focus of the mixes. And damn, Paul's voice sounds great for 64. Mark's review: ****

Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti) Outside of the New Pornographers, Neko Case is an artist I've admired more than enjoyed. She has a big, country-sounding voice but seemed to love dark, rockabilly-style dirges and ballads--like PJ Harvey crossed with K. D. Lang. So I'm happy that this one, besides letting a little light and space into the mixes, has a few uptempo tunes, as well as really good confessional sad/lost songs. And Neko as always sings like an angel.
Mark's review: ****

Markie goes to movies (so you don't have to)

Mission Impossible (dir. J. J. Abrams) This one is relatively professionally made and, though it's too long by 15 minutes, it keeps its momentum through the last 40 minutes. The main problem I have with it is that Tom Cruise is its star and producer, so the director's focus is on using as many "ain't Tom Cruise hot shit?" shots as possible. Which is too bad because he's surrounded by good actors: Ving Rhames as the worrywart head of the IMN Unit (Tom explains right near the end of the movie), Billy Crudup as Tom's friend inside (or is he?), Lawrence Fishburne as his tough-but-fair boss (or is he?). And last, but not least, is Michelle Williams, acting like Lindsay Lohan with a brain, in the thankless Tom Cruise Girlfriend role. So if you don't focus too closely on what hot shit Tom Cruise is, you might enjoy this. Mark's review (stupid points) ???

Weapons System of the Month 2

Fuck the dolphins, here's someone who can follow simple orders.

What I'm Listening To

Built to Spill, You In Reverse (Warner Brothers) The biggest differences between Doug Martsch and Neil Young are (a) Unlike Neil, Doug Martsch doesn't feel the need to constantly change styles, and (b) Unlike Doug, Neil Young has been a hookwise genius since the Buffalo Springfield days. So I won't argue with anyone who thinks Built to Spill songs all sound the same. But this one is the guitar album I've always hoped he'd make--rich, layered, like old Tom Verlaine or Buffalo Springfield, with a few discreet psychedelic touches (supposedly inspired by a recent fondness for dub reggae). Very beautiful. ****

Neil Young, Living with War (Warner Brothers) Speaking of Neil, here he is back with the Volume Dealers, the guys he made Eldorado (3/5 of which became half of Freedom) with back in '88. This one is raw like that, but less doomy. Neil sounds like he's having a ball being a loud garage band protest singer, so no matter how simpleminded the lyrics are they still pack a fun wallop. And a lot hookier than I thought it would be. ***½


Bruce Springsteen, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions Columbia) Bruce sounds like Steve Earle fronting the Pogues on this one, only he works a lot harder at sounding like a smashmouth hillbilly than Steve does. Pretty rollicking, and you can probably give it to your folkie friends and all get drunk and jig around together. ***½


Ghostface, Fishscale (Def Jam) Finally, someone in Wu-Tang Clan makes an album fit to bookend Only Built for Cuban Lynx. But while Raekwon's masterpiece was depressive, menacing, and of-a-piece, Ghost's is bright, kaleidoscopic, and of-a-piece. He's got amazing work out of all the producers (MF Doom!), and his narratives and raps have never been better or more intense. ****½