Sir Ben Kingsley (that’s him on the left) plays Minor Threat frontman Ian Mackaye (on the right) in a video of the band’s eponymous song. Produced by Mean Magazine, it’s elicited a collective ‘WTF?’ from the Internet. But I don’t know – the guy who played Gandhi playing the founder of the straight edge movement kind of works for me. Vimeo isn’t playing nice with WordPress, but here’s a link to the video.
It’s been a couple of months since zed equals zee relocated, and we’re now heading into our first Seattle winter – perpetually overcast skies, cold drizzle, and steadily shortening days. Fellow Seattle-ites Grand Archives must understand this, as their music is the perfect warm, comforting, laid-back antidote to the weather. Principal Mat Brooke left Band of Horses, which he co-founded, to get Grand Archives going. Their demo got some notice, including a review on Pitchfork; they subsequently signed to Sub Pop and released their first, self-titled album earlier this year. I’m really sorry I couldn’t go to their show here in Seattle on Saturday night; I’m hoping that they’ll do another hometown show soon.
MP3: Grand Archives – Sleepdriving
More: website myspace NPR feature
I just watched Trainspotting again, for the first time in many years. It’s still a fantastic movie – somehow, it manages to be despairing and cynical while still being, well, fun (in contrast to, say, Requiem for a Dream, which is most emphatically not fun). But the other remarkable thing about the film is its soundtrack – not only are the songs great in and of themselves, but they are also perfectly deployed in the film – Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” plays while the lead character OD’s on heroin, another character sings an a capella snippet of New Order’s “Temptation.” Do yourself a favour – get your hands on the DVD and watch (and listen) to it again.
[embedded YouTube link; if you can’t see it, click here]
Hailing from the small Ontario town of Manotick, but now based in Montreal, Hollerado have just released a great single, “Americanarama” (from their Demo in a Bag 5 EP). Its video is a hilarious spoof of American Apparel, complete with Dave Foley doing a spot-on parody of the company’s notably sleazy founder (and fellow Montrealer), Dov Charney, in over-the-top mustache and lavender Y-fronts. Of course, the nice thing about making a video that indicts the hypersexualized imagery of American Apparel is that you can fill it with women in skintight, metallic leggings, in t-shirts and panties, and the like. To be fair, the band members don’t spare themselves – they also appear in just their skivvies. Make sure you check out the behind-the-scenes video too, to watch the band drink booze out of coffee cups while director George Vale zooms around on rollerblades.
MP3 link: Hollerado – Americanarama (at RCRD LBL)
NPR has a lovely little music feature on music to have an office romance by – a five-song soundtrack for what is “sometimes, under a select set of circumstances,…not even a horrible, career-demolishingly tragic mistake.” Even (maybe especially) if you aren’t contemplating or embroiled in a torrid relationship with a co-worker, the set is great, including Belle and Sebastian‘s “Step Into My Office, Baby” and the Damnwell‘s “Kiss Catastrophe.”
One of my oldest friends just moved from New York City to Antwerp, its polar opposite in almost every way – quiet, clean, sleepy – and it seemed fitting to pull out LCD Soundsystem‘s “North American Scum.” It’s off their brilliant album Sound of Silver and is a tongue-in-cheek look at the differences between Europe and the US, as well as yet another homage to James Murphy’s beloved New York (that’s him, above, looking quite, well, European). And remember, ‘don’t blame the Canadians!’
MP3: LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum
Previously: Coverage: The Main Drag, “All My Friends”; Capturing the zeitgeist; 2007 in review: LCD Soundsystem
In keeping with this week’s de facto celebration of Canadian music, here’s a Johnny Cash cover of Gordon Lightfoot‘s 1970 hit, “If You Could Read My Mind.” If you’ve never heard the song before, and part of it sounds familiar, you might be familiar with Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All.” Lightfoot sued its songwriter, Michael Masser, alleging that Masser lifted part of the melody (“I don’t where we went wrong, but the feeling’s gone, and I just can’t get it back” in the Lightfoot song lines up with “I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadow” in the Houston version). They settled out of court and Masser publicly apologized.
Needless to say, the Johnny Cash version (and even the Lightfoot original) blows the Whitney Houston song out of the water.
MP3: Johnny Cash – If You Could Read My Mind (Gordon Lightfoot cover)
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