Idag blir Randy Newman 66 år minsann. Grattis påre, din långskånk.

Bernie Marsden var, enligt initierad källa, obetydligt längre när han stod upp jämfört med sittande under konserten på Munken häromdagen. Han var dessutom, skriker rapporter från flera håll, innihelvitte bra. Så honom vill vi trots Randy Newman’s illvilliga påhopp naturligtvis inte bli av med. Det finns även flera short people vi skulle sakna väldigt mycket om de försvann från rockhistorien:

John Mellencamp 170 cm
Lou Reed 166 cm
Bob Dylan 168 cm
Prince 152 cm
Bono 171 cm
Thom Yorke 166 cm
Angus Young 158 cm
Roger Daltrey 170 cm
Ronnie James Dio 162 cm
Iggy Pop 171 cm
Paul Simon 160 cm
Tom Petty 170 cm

Jag tycker nog att vi korta kan få leva också. Så det så.

This little mix here is (a small sample of) the building blocks of what L E N S will hopefully sound like. Needless to say, I’ve had this mix of artists on heavy, heavy rotation in the last couple of weeks!

Samples from: ‘Null Sand Mandala’ by YourInfamousHarp, ‘Cocoon’ by Björk, ‘Who Watches The Watchmen?’ by The Prize Fighter Inferno, and ‘Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors’ by Radiohead.

So hopefully what you can gleam from that little montage is much glitchy beat-ness in quite a hardcore style but with some pop sensibility and quite other-worldly vocals and ethereal sounding sonics.

Other artists I’m taking inspiration from;

• Boards of Canada
• Brian Eno
• Cornelius
• Imogen Heap
• mum
• Jerome & Sylvie
• Portishead
• Sul.a
• Thom Yorke

Anyone interested in Electronica, Glitch or Electronic based music I urge you to check any of these artists out. Very unique sounds to them all.

… New Moon soundtracket, som jeg tidligere har skrevet om. Det er virkelig et godt mix af fede guitarrifs og mere lowkey stille indiesange.

Hmmm, var i gang med at lave en top tre, men kan mærke, at det er nødt til at være en top fem:

1. Grizzly Bear “Slow Life”
2. Bon Iver “Roslyn”
3. Thom Yorke “Hearing Damages”
4. Band of Skulls “Friends”
5. Lupe Fiasco “Solar Midnite”

Og den her er også fin!

Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7aMfB6nwQw

Here’s another band I’ve been following for a few years. The first song I heard by them was Munich, which I couldn’t stop playing. Another big league single for them was Smokers Outside the Hospital. Check these two tracks out at least. You won’t be sorry.

Lyrics here, more below:
We can never go home
We no longer have one
I’ll help you carry the load
I’ll carry you in my arms
The kiss of the snow
The crescent moon above us
Our blood is cold
And we’re alone
But I’m alone with you

Help me to carry the fire
We will keep it alight together
Help me to carry the fire
It will light our way forever

If I say shut your eyes
If I say look away
Bury your face in my shoulder
Think of a birthday
The things you put in your head
They will stay here forever
Our blood is cold
And we’re alone, love
But I’m alone with you

Help me to carry the fire
We will keep it alight together
Help me to carry the fire
It will light our way forever

Help me to carry the fire
We will keep it alight together
Now help me to carry the fire
It will light up our way forever

If I say shut your eyes
If I say shut your eyes
Bury me in suprise
Where I say shut your eyes

Help me to carry the fire
We will keep it alight together
Help me carry the fire
It will light our way forever

I have to say I’m fond of music that doesn’t follow the mainstream. As love songs go this is no exception. His voice is so different and he takes great pains to keep the edge on this song.

I got a bit lost trying to figure out what this spoke when I listened to it. It finally dawned on me that this felt more like opera than rock or alt rock or whatever you want to call it. It has that distinct operatic feel to me. The lyrics alone are brilliant but he brings that darkness with his voice. There’s a sense of high powered drama coming off of it.

Not sure how the New Moon/Twilight crowd will receive this particular track. But kudos to the production for going out and getting some amazing bands and amazing music (Thom Yorke, Death Cab, Muse and many more). The first Twilight movie was made for me hearing Supermassive Black Hole by Muse during the baseball scene. Classic!

So keep an eye on Editors. This will only enhance their exposure. I look forward to future of this band.

It’s late morning in Australia right now.

New Zealand is just getting through the afternoon and in various parts of the U.S it’s pretty much evening time.

In England however, it’s approaching 3am. I’m sat here in bed, hands (and fingers respectively) hovering above my mac keyboard waiting for the go ahead from the big guns upstairs but my brain is deciding not to co-operate. And rightly so, I’m clearly being told this is not the time to write-up my first entry for this blog, a blog no less, all about my major project I’m doing at Herts University for my 3rd and final year…

Ignoring the warning, I’ll instead continue daringly into the realms of 3am and beyond(!) to tell you all about why and how this blog came to be. It is, as mentioned earlier my last year at Herts Uni studying (preferable to the term ‘reading’ as I like to feel I’m a little more involved in my degree than that) Music Commercial Composition & Technology. In the final year of the course students are lead to undertake a ‘Major Project’ which takes the form of a 15minute concept album.

So my concept, in short;

Dr.Lovell Mason; a former roboticist, now a reclusive individual of questionable sanity becomes increasingly desperate for knowledge of the outside world and humanities direction for the future. Unable to bring himself to face the now alien world beyond his house he begins to sketch and draft ideas, which eventually manifest themselves into a robot whom Lovell lovingly crafts and builds into a machine for mixed data gathering. The robot (christened ‘L E N S’) is sent out into the world armed with but what his disturbed creator gave him, and the errand to ‘observe and learn’ from all that he sees. The concept will follow the travels and experiences of L E N S and how his development is affected by our present-day Earth and therein human nature.

This is the concept in a nutshell. From a musical standpoint the likes of Björk, Thom Yorke, múm and Yourinfamousharp will play a big part in the sound I will try to shape which will be particularly interesting and a learning experience in itself; these artists represent the other half of my listening habits that I have yet to explore composition-ally.

I’ll be posting up my progress through sketches, interesting internet articles, mp3s and the like with hopefully a couple of entries a week, or whenever something worth posting presents itself.

Keep watching!

New Moon, the second installment of the Twilight movies.  Where to begin?

I would like to preface this review with a few things.  First off, I have read all four of the Twilight books.  Secondly: although I think that Stephanie Meyers technically can’t write for shit, I think that her ideas in Twilight have the potential for something that could be both hugely entertaining and actually a good story.  Thirdly, I think that the directors responsible for the reincarnation of her story into these movies could take advantage of said potential and make Twilight great.  Lastly, any movie that can do as well as New Moon did in the box office while not aiming for the preteen/teenage boy demographic (the largest in Hollywood) is quite alright by me.

The movie New Moon is worlds better than the first Twilight film but therefore does not maintain some of that b-movie quality that I learned to love about the first installment.  That being said, here are the reasons why I think it is better than the first movie:  visually it is cleaner and more convincing.  The makeup for the vampires is more believable and the CG for the werewolves is actually quite good.  Whereas the first movie followed the book faithfully and stuck to one shittily filmed action sequence, New Moon upped the number of action sequences (most of which did not go down in the book) and made them actually look good.  The increased budget as a result of the first movie’s success is the reason behind both these things, and also (I think) a more critical eye from the director (Chris Weitz).  Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, New Moon has an excellent soundtrack made up of such artists as Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Bon Iver, and St. Vincent.  Its music had a lot to do with the quality of the movie, especially during a certain werewolf/vampire chase sequence.  Finally, the acting.  Despite the fact that in the broad scheme of things the acting in New Moon is by far not great, to me the most important comparison to make is to the first movie (because let’s face it, if you couldn’t sit through the first one you’re not going to sit through the second one).  Compared to the first movie,  New Moon should be in the Oscars: in that case, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner both deserve lead acting awards, and Robert Pattinson and Anna Kendrick should win for supporting roles.

Beyond all of the technical aspects there is a love/hate relationship that I have with Twilight and simply can’t escape, which absolutely has everything to do with its content that I find myself simultaneously tickled by and filled with loathing for.  With filming for the third movie already completed and its release just around the corner, I am very excited and I believe that my enthusiasm will last through the fourth and final movie.  I’m guilty of being invested in these movies, and I’m sure that if you gave it a chance you would be too. 

My rating: 5/10*

*This rating fluxuates.  On my good days it shoots to 8 and on my bad days drops to 2.

I’ve always been a mild REM fan and enjoyed watching Michael Stipe’s journey into hipsterdom. From the early days of Vexed Generation ninja hoodies to the Courtney Love-inspired songs, Stipe has always made interesting choices. It’s not easy being a quirky guy living in the limelight. For the past 10 years, he has become somewhat of an art world darling. He has made enough mainstream hits to be one of the most beloved frontmen in music history but has also stayed under the celebrity radar enough to still respected by the fringe community. He’s one of few artists who can play stadiums but still hang with the cool kids.

And when you have an in with the art scene, the next logical step is the fashion world.

Not only did he star in Juergen Teller’s Marc Jacobs campaign, Stipe makes his rounds during Fashion Week each year.

In 2008, Stipe exhibited a few bronze sculptures in New York and it seems his metal work isn’t just for the galleries. In collaboration with Belgian label Maison Martin Margiela, Stipe has created a limited edition accessory to be sold at select stores. His design features a mini cassette with the unraveled tape as a chain. Only 199 pieces are available so all you Michael Stipe fans better move quick.

Don’t know about you but I’m not rushing out to Nordstrom’s to pick this up any time soon. I don’t even know what I think of it. I guess I don’t feel much. Blah.

What’s going on Michael Stipe? I think you can do better than this.

Okay, because I love REM so much, here are a few of my favourite clips:

My favourite REM song ever.

One of my favourite songs from the new album. Video By Vincent Moon.

Acoustic version.

And of course, me VERY drunk with my friend Adam at an REM/The National concert. This was right after I dropped a pizza slice out of my pocket without knowing (no joke).

God, I miss summer.

Cover of Björk's Homogenic (One Little Indian, 1997); image courtesy of slantmagazine.com

Cover for Björk's Vespertine (One Little Indian, 2001); image courtesy of harmony-korine.com

When I began conceptualizing this blog in the ol’ brainspace, one of the first sections I came up with was “Records That Made Me a Feminist.” I knew Björk was going to get at least one entry. Homogenic and Vespertine each played a vital part of shaping my politics. So, I figured out I’d probably have to write about them together.

Pairing albums for this section of the blog is something I originally wanted to do this when covering Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun, which I started listening to around the same time as PJ Harvey’s Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea. I liked the idea of dialoguing seemingly dissimilar work by female artists with one another, but I feared covering those two albums together would short-shrift the artists who made them. However, talking about two distinct pieces of work by one woman seemed easier. And essential. So here we go.

I must admit that covering Björk’s 1997 and 2000 full-length releases present its own political challenges that makes me think critically about how I understand and practice feminism. Both of these albums made me a feminist largely because of the boys I was preoccupied with at the time.

But while my initial reception and resulting connections to them were tied up with potentially normative feelings around romantic angst and heterosexual coupling, I feel the albums speak to my development at the time as well as transcend it. In other words, Homogenic and Vespertine may remind me of boys I used to date, but they speak to larger, more overtly feminist issues as well.

Of course, being a feminist doesn’t mean you can’t like boys or be hung up on them from time to time, so long as you don’t let them run your life. Which I don’t think Björk endorses in either of these records, even though she herself has an ambivalent relationship with feminism (though not with calling out the music industry’s sexist practices of attributing male engineers and instrumental songwriters).

Importantly, as both albums were prescient to my development, they also went over my head when I first listened to them. Debut and Post were more accessible and, as a result, I liked them almost immediately. It was hard for 10-year-old me not to fall for the girl dancing through New York City on a flatbed in the music video for “Big Time Sensuality.”

But Björk’s next two albums took more time to process. Both albums mark advances in the artist’s production sensibilities, approaches to music-making, and interest in electronic instrumentation. Thus, just as Björk had to evolve as a musician before creating these albums, I had to mature a bit as a person before liking them as a fan.

So, Homogenic came out just as I was starting high school. I don’t exactly remember when I bought it, but I think it was sometime toward the end of junior year. I completely ignored it at the time. Or rather, I listened to it once, went “ooh, so angry!” and put Post back on.

The particulars I’ll keep to myself for the sake of decorum. Suffice it to say that I dated someone for a little while, fell in love, we broke up, and I spent a little over a year trying to get us back together. It didn’t work out. Eventually I got over him and whatever I thought we were, but not without some pain and denial and then serious personal re-evaluation. The healing process involved some righteous anger, loud parties, several bottles of wine and other goodies, and burgeoning feminist development. After a rough start, 19 turned out to be a pretty okay year. Homogenic was its soundtrack.

Now, I have no problem acknowledging that this guy was a total jerk to me. But feminism isn’t only about recognizing and calling out chauvinistic bullshit. It’s also about self-empowerment, personal accountability, and un-learning heteronormativity and patriarchal co-dependence. It isn’t always just the guy’s fault, even when it is.

Thus, I also have to own up to being really needy and delusional at the time. I pinned my worth on whoever I was dating without questioning whether being with them was actually good for me. So I projected my own big feelings and insecurities on someone who clearly didn’t want to be with me. I was ignoring the reality of the situation and, as a result, my own well-being. I finally recognized what I was doing when confronted with the lyric “How could I be so immature to think he could replace the missing elements in me — how extremely lazy of me.” 

Kinda appropriate that a break-up record got me over mine, no? Apparently, Björk made the album after breaking up with drum’n'bass musician Goldie while they were working on their own project. Hence lines like “So you left me on my own to complete the mission, but now I’m leaving it all behind.” But it pretty much hit all the right notes of melancholy, indignation, rage, and feisty recovery for me. I’m a quarter Norwegian on my mother’s side, so even the line ”I thought I could organize freedom — how Scandinavian of me” in “Hunter” applied.

Attention must be paid to the album’s sound and how it marked a musical departure for Björk. Post was an eclectic mix that boasted songs like “Army of Me,” “Enjoy,” and “Headphones,” that opened up her sound to include state-of-the-art aggressive digital distortion and serene electronic minimalism.

While this was evident in the production work Tricky and 808 State’s Graham Massey did on Post, it wasn’t the focus. It would come to define the artistic work she began doing with producers like Mark Bell on Homogenic and would continue to do with Matmos on Vespertine. But I’d hedge that most casual listeners just remember Post’s ”It’s Oh So Quiet,” which was produced by Björk’s then-mainstay, Nellee Hooper, the man responsible for all the production on her breakthrough Debut. He was also responsible for “Hyperballad,” which I’d argue suggests the artist’s shift, which is fully evident on her next album.

Man, I wish I could post the music video, but WMG has apparently disabled the audio. All the more reason to check out Michel Gondry’s Directors Label DVD, or any of the other myriad DVD titles that have documented her videography.

So Homogenic marks a transition from being a pop star to an artist who challenges her listeners’ ears and expectations with each release. By 1997, we also heard alternative pop stars like Beck and Radiohead establish themselves similarly with Odelay and OK Computer. We would hear Radiohead do it again in 2000 with the mind-blowing Kid A, where they really demonstrated their love for electronic instrumentation and experimental production techniques.

Björk was already on this path in 1997, but while Radiohead looked outward toward the fallabilities of modern life, Björk looked inward at the seductive pleasures and wobbly peculiarities of domestic life and partnership on her next record, rapturing at her voice’s clicks and finding percussive possibilities out of shuffled decks of cards. I don’t think these innovations went unnoticed when Radiohead went to work on In Rainbows. To me, Vespertine’s influence is all over a song like “Nude,” which was originally an outtake from OK Computer. This is further confirmed by the band’s rendition of Homogenic’s ”Unravel” as a tip of the hat. As if lead singer Thom Yorke’s backing vocals on “Náttúra” aren’t enough.

Hmmm. Maybe at some point, I’ll consider Yorke’s duets with Björk and PJ Harvey. Yorke is one of my favorite vocalists, a fact confirmed by a recent revisit of Hail to the Thief. If one of my friends ran a blog on male masculinity and music culture, I’d pen a guest entry in a second.

But I was afflicted with a troubled mind when Vespertine first came out. In addition to boy heartache, I was going through some considerable familial strife. I was also starting my first semester of college, so a tackier person might blame 9/11.

After seeing the music video for “Hidden Place,” I dutifully bought the album, along with My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, another at-the-time inscrutable release, at the Tower Records by campus. I listened to the album a few times, but my head was not in the right place for it. It was too contented and quiet. I couldn’t hear it. And then for a little while all I could hear was Homogenic at full volume.

Stills from the video that convinced me to buy "Vespertine"; image courtesy of unit.bjork.com

To be blunt, Vespertine didn’t really make sense to me until I started having sex. Critics like Ryan Dombal would seem to concur. I remember seeing her performance of ”Cocoon” on Jay Leno and thinking that it was really quiet, but totally not getting how micro-embodied intimacy is the song’s entire purpose. While I had a good understanding of mechanics and had engaged in related activities before going into my first listen, I don’t think a song like “Cocoon” makes sense to a person unless they’ve experienced it, to speak euphemistically, in a corporeal sense.

BTW, yes that is Bill O’Reilly adjusting his tie. If he was actually listening to the song, I’m sure he’d be appalled by how delightfully, defiantly sexual this song is and that it was performed uncensored on network television. Watching it now, I can’t believe I wasn’t really listening. Maybe I should have been leaning into the television.  

Again, the particulars here aren’t really important. I was a week or so into being 20 and, frankly,  didn’t want to be a virgin anymore. The guy was someone willing, it was fun, and didn’t last very long.

In short, the romanticism and emotional connectedness that is often built into such an experience was not there, nor do I regret that it wasn’t. I would find that later, which would make my understanding of those aspects of Vespertine more profound and further develop my feminist principles.

I bring sex into the discussion because I, to borrow briefly from Arrested Development’s George Michael Bluth, find Vespertine’s complex eroticism one of its most key contributions to what made me a feminist. Though perhaps a stretch and certainly not without its own distinctions, I tend to think of this album in accord with Audre Lorde’s wonderful essay “Uses of the erotic: the erotic as power.”

And while I don’t know if this entry’s subject has read the essay, something tells me that the same woman who identifies as bisexual and recognizes the erotic potential in mundane activities would concur with much of the theorist’s thesis.

Of course, feminists must also have the wherewithal to recognize that eroticism, even ephemeral evidence like orgasms, are luxuries to some women and girls. Not everyone is given a space, a country, or a political system that allows them the safety and freedom to enjoy and explore these possibilities.

But eroticism isn’t about cataloging who did what to whom for Björk. As David Fricke gestured toward in his review of the album for Rolling Stone, it might be everywhere, at once tangible and theoretical.

This is where I think it’s important to consider the album’s production sensibilities and Björk’s particular uses of her voice. In addition to non-conventional practices like sampling and turning seemingly non-musical domestic items into instruments, the singer’s voice is the album’s real focus. Because of how closely she’s miked, you can hear every tic, breath, whispered turn of phrase, and any other sound coming out of her mouth. As a result, her voice becomes a varied and vital instrument, an idea she has continued to develop and that has continued to stay with me.

Joanna Newsom, the queen of 2006.

2006 was an outstanding year for music. If you disagree then you’re not my friend anymore.

I have elected to share my list from that year rather than 2005 for two reasons: 1) A strange and inadvertent hibernation I experienced in 2005 within the caves of Malaysia. 2) My recent obsession with one-upping everyone around me coupled with a strengthening of my basic arithmetic skills (2005 + 1 = 2006).

If I could do this again, of course, it’d look a lot different. Alas, my decade list will serve as an opportunity to rearrange albums based on sustained listening of old favorites and discoveries of new (also based on the unearthing of a hidden track on “Stadium Arcadium” that makes it the greatest album of 2006, if not the 21st century… just kidding).

1. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
2. Joanna Newsom – Ys
3. The Knife – Silent Shout
4. Liars – Drum’s Not Dead
5. Band of Horses – Everything all the Time
6. Thom Yorke – The Eraser
7. Islands – Return to the Sea
8. Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
9. Sufjan Stevens – The Avalanche
10. The Strokes – First Impression of Earth

#1.  Radiohead, Kid A (2000): Anticipation for a follow up to 1997’s hugely successful Ok Computer was immense, and for good reason.  Once thought of as standard bearers of the brit rock movement of the early 90s, Radiohead stepped out of that mold with a more expansive collection of work that took form as a concept album.  Beyond the signature arena-rock sound were more sonic textures that made for an amazing album that truly set them apart from their fellow countrymen.  With the release of Kid A, never again would they be compared to anyone else.  Like any other fan of Radiohead, I went through 4 stages while digesting this album; shock, disgust, curiosity, then finally sheer admiration.  Mostly gone were the guitar-oriented songs that were the hallmark of both Ok Computer and The Bends.  In their place were songs like the opener, “Everything in its Right Place.”  An entirely electric, experimental tune with a very unconventional song structure;  needless to say I was not thrilled.  But in time, I grew to realize that it wasn’t the music that I didn’t like, it was the fact that it was different from what I had come to know and love about Radiohead.  Taking the record on its face, it is a wonderful mixture of electronica, alt-rock, classical, techno and even jazz fusion; a huge contrast from anything they had done before.  There’s still some guitar-driven stuff here on tracks like “The National Anthem” and “Optimistic.”  But more often they choose to eschew distortion pedals for exotic synthesizers and other creative sounds like on the technocratic “Idioteque;”  An earnest shout out to techno progenitors Kraftwerk.

All across the musical landscape, it is common practice for bands to mail it in once they’ve reached superstar status [see U2].  Instead of taking the easy path, Radiohead embarked on an ambitious undertaking.  It is for this reason that it stands atop my list of the best albums of the decade.

Faves: Everything in its Right Place, The National Anthem, Optimistic, Idioteque.

Okay, so I wanted to put off writing this post until after I had seen the movie. Part of this I must credit to my laziness  (which I’m sure is evident from my lack of posts) and the other part is my belief that a soundtrack can be really amazing just as a musical compilation, but if it doesn’t fit in the context of the movie, well then it kind of defeats the purpose.

So, if you know me, you know that New Moon’s opening date has been marked on my calendar pretty much since the date was announced.  And while I have a lot of thoughts on the movie (verses the book), some bad and some good, I will try to stay focused on the soundtrack and keep my extreme fandom to a minimum.

Those who’ve read this blog at all will know that I was chomping at the bits for this soundtrack if for nothing else but the contributions of some seriously bad ass musicians, the likes of which include Bon Iver (with St Vincent!!!), The Killers, Thom Yorke (of Radiohead), Grizzly Bear and Death Cab. The lineup read like a follow-up to the oh-so-brilliant Dark Was the Night album which was released earlier this year and has yet to be taken out of constant rotation. But enough of that plug…

The immediate stand out in this album for me was the Grizzly Bear track “Slow Life” which features the talented Victoria LeGrand on vocals. It’s moody and lovely, and lyrically fits the storyline without slipping into the realm of cheesiness.

Bon Iver’s “Roslyn” and Thom Yorke’s “Hearing Damage,” while both highly anticipated, could only be described as mediocre upon my first few listens.  I have the exact opposite opinion now. In fact, I now consider “Roslyn” the best song on the entire album. Part of that is due to repeated listening, but it’s mostly due to their placement within the film.  The Bon Iver track fits beautifully into the melancholy of Bella’s life without Edward, and the Thom Yorke track provides an amazing backdrop to arguably the best sequence of the film where the wolves seek out Victoria and Bella decides to make the leap. I still get chills a little thinking about those few shining minutes of the movie.

A few other standouts on this soundtrack are Eskimo Joe’s “Thunderclap” which sounds like a fist pumping 80’s power ballad (uhh-mazing!) and Lykke Li’s “Possibility” which was used during Bella’s time lapse after Edward leaves. And “The Violet Hour” by Sea Wolf couldn’t be more catchy and fun.

The most bittersweet part of this soundtrack has to be the instrumental song “New Moon (the Meadow).” I say bittersweet because it is exactly what “Bella’s Lullaby” should have been:  soft, sweet and a little heartbreaking.  And when you listen to this piano solo compared to Catherine Hardwicke’s clumsy choice for the lullaby, it makes you wish someone would just go back and redo the first movie just to include this song.

My biggest disappointment with this album is the Death Cab for Cutie song “Meet Me on the Equinox.” It’s not that it is a bad song, it’s just not as good as the rest of their stuff.

There’s been a lot of talk about this album being a failure in terms of how it compares to sales of the Twilight Soundtrack.  This doesn’t surprise me at all. There were huge marketing/public relations efforts saturating the production of the first film of the franchise, aimed at making these sweet and charming novels into emo-loving Hot Topics driven melodramas. And the Twilight soundtrack was a huge part of that push.  The idea behind it, of course, was to hock as many Twilight branded products as possible and maximize profitability. Not a bad plan from a marketing perspective. But as a fan, it’s heartbreaking. What does underwear, lip gloss and perfume have to do with this story?

But then that is my whole complaint with the first movie and soundtrack. Bella and Edward weren’t cutters who donned star printed black hoodies and nose rings.  In fact, Bella was very understated and demur preferring t-shirts and jeans over anything trendy, and Edward was a fan of classical music, for goodness sake! That just doesn’t scream Linkin Park and black lipstick to me, but I have strayed from the topic again…

No, the only thing that has surprised me about this soundtrack is the fact that someone at Summit had enough sand to compile an album that uses fairly popular bands to draw attention while still staying true to the mood of the book. It’s a melancholy book, but it’s not angsty and doesn’t require the gimmicks of the first soundtrack.  This album doesn’t feel forced at all, but instead compliments the movie wonderfully. I wager that even the most anti-Twilight people who appreciate music couldn’t help but fall in love with this album.

No hace mucho tiempo el establishment adolescente excluía a aquellos quienes en vez de jugar un partido de futbol preferían acurrucarse en un rincón y leer por octava vez su cómic favorito de las aventuras del Hombre Araña, a quienes no seguían los rígidos decálogos de la moda de instituto, y a los que vivían romances imposibles dentro de las paginas de un libro de vampiros. Haciendo gala de la crueldad infinita propia de quienes se encuentran perdidos en la encrucijada entre la niñez y la edad adulta se reían de ellos, y cargados del más hondo de los desprecios les llamaban frikis.

En la actualidad la tortilla parece haber dado un giro de 180 grados y lo que antes eran contenidos de nicho emparentados con el mundo de la subcultura, en nuestros días son auténticos fenómenos de masas. Aquel cómic roñoso se ha convertido en los 1001 millones de dólares de recaudación de El Caballero Oscuro, la última película de Batman, o los 885 de Spiderman 3, cuarta y catorceava más taquilleras de la historia respectivamente. Tras el primer fin de semana después del estreno, la segunda entrega de la saga Crepúsculo va por el camino. Luna Nueva ha recaudado en solo tres días la friolera de 140 millones de dólares en Estados Unidos y Canadá, desbancando a los Piratas del Caribe como tercera película que más taquillera 72 horas después de su primer pase en los cines.

Sin duda, la saga Crepúsculo más que un fenómeno cinematográfico es un fenómeno social síntoma de un cambio de gustos del consumidor que cada vez demanda productos con campos semánticos más jugosos y menos evidentes. Es cierto que a ojos de alguien que esta fuera de target el romance entre la rarita y paliducha Bella, y Edwar el vampiro imberbe, se parece más a los Amantes de Teruel que a unos Romeo y Julieta modernos… Pero los códigos de interpretación necesarios para entender y conectar emocionalmente con la película no son los mismos que los de hace una década.

Así pues no sorprende que la música también esté teñida de la misma filosofía. Lo obvio ya no vende, o vende menos, así que… ¿Porque no confeccionar una banda sonora repleta de temas pop compuestos por artistas independientes? Al fin y al cabo, se supone que ese tipo de gente eran quienes leían cómics y literatura fantástica en su adolescencia, e incluso puede que lo sigan haciendo… Thom Yorke, Death Cab For Cutie, The Killers, Bon Iver, Muse, OK Go, Grizzly Bear y Editors, son solo algunos e los nombres de las bandas que decoran el trak-list de la BSO de Luna Nueva.

¿Quien ha sido la responsable de unir semejante aglomeración talentos y perfiles comerciales alternativos? Si quieres una banda sonora independiente pero con pegada solo hay una persona a la que recurrir. Se llama Alexandra Patsavas y su consultora/discográfica Chop Shop Records es la responsable de la edición y selección de las canciones que aparecen en series como The OC, Gossip Girl, o Anatomía de Grey. De esta última serie se han hecho distintos recopilatorios que incluso han llegado a ser nominados a los Grammys. Alexandra es una verdadera maestra a la hora de encajar una canción rarita sobre un soporte audiovisual masivo y hacer que ambos se conviertan en todo un éxito. Además los alternativos siempre salen más baratitos oiga…

Quien ríe último ríe mejor. Los frikis de antaño ven como los hijos de quienes les menospreciaban en la adolescencia acuden en masa a los cines a ver películas de superhéroes de capa y leotardo, las hijas de los presidentes de gobierno se visten de bruja, y las de los demás sueñan con enamorarse de un vampiro.

Y bien… ¿Quien es el friki ahora?

Listen here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXwyE0IrA2M

If you know me at all, you’ll know I love Radiohead.  Thom Yorke, their front man, has this spectacularly ethereal voice.  And it conveys all sorts of different emotions.

Lyrics here, more below:

A tear in my brain
Allows the voices in
They wanna push you off the path
With their frequency wires

And you can do no wrong
In my eyes
In my eyes
You can do no wrong
In my eyes
In my eyes

A drunken salesman
Your hearing damage
Your mind is restless
They say you’re getting better
But you don’t feel any better

Your speakers are blowing
Your ears are wrecking
Your hearing damage
You wish you felt better
You wish you felt better

You can do no wrong
In my eyes
In my eyes
You can do no wrong
In my eyes
In my eyes
In my

In my eyes
In my eyes
In my eyes

Bearing in mind that this track is on the Twilight sequel New Moon soundtrack.  I have absolutely no idea where this music is used in the movie nor do I know the story well enough to guess.  That said, the lyrics do have something to say.

The opening bit is telling us that he is damaged.  He has problems.  Almost an apology for how he feels.  And an explanation for how he feels about her.  And because he thinks she is perfect, he is deluded on how things will go.

And as much as she is perfect to him, she is damaged too.  She doesn’t listen.  Even when she is being sold a pile of crap, she doesn’t see.  And despite this, he loves her.

As I listen to that voice, floating through my brain, I can feel the tension both in the music and the story.  Two people who may or may not be good for each other, blinded to the fact that they may not be good for each other.  You can feel them circling each other, pushing and pulling.

And listening to the opening, it almost felt like a dark nod to another band who did wonders with darkness and influenced a generation of bands.  That being Joy Division.  Especially during that opening sequence I felt like I was listening to Ian Curtis instead of Thom Yorke.  Just a bit of dark brilliance, understated and still being fully stated.

Give this one some time if it doesn’t grab you right away.  There’s more than meets the eye on this one.

I’m not going to make any overly outlandish statements about the quality of the saga I am commenting on.  The series is entertaining and honestly an interesting read if you are out of things to do on a certain weekend.  The writing is both obtuse and flawed yet in many ways it seems to work for Meyers. I don’t have a problem with the books as much as I do the movies, which have spread this phenomenon beyond the realm of Harry Potter, into the world of popular trend, where it becomes mandated to become a “Twi-hard” or risk social banishment.  On opening night, movies theatres were not filled, but packed beyond capacity with teenage girls eagerly awaiting a topless scene with a werewolf or a witty grin from a vampire.  This occurrence is manageable however, in comparison to what this series has done to the “underground indie” genre we music fans embrace.  I can no longer listen to Muse without picturing the vast and endless masses of teenage girls listening to the same song only because they heard it in their favorite movie (a problem in itself).  Iron & Wine survived this “Twilight mutilation” because they do not have enough pop appeal to attract the insatiable and ruthless crowd consisting mainly of teenage girls.   The New Moon soundtrack (which for those of you who don’t follow the series is the second release) continued on its destruction of good indie.  Bon Iver (one of my favorite bands), Grizzly Bear and Thom Yorke were all thrown to the masses.  Some of whom will never return. It’s a pity that such good artists are becoming just another trend in pop culture.

Here are a few tracks that are (thus-far) relatively obscure and Twi-hard free:

___________________________________________________________

Temazcal – Monsters Of Folk

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Temazcal_album_/23188326

_____________________________________________________

Rumpus Reprise – Karen O and the Kids (get the entire album)

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Rumpus_Reprise/23232562

___________________________________________________________

Glósóli – Sigur Rós (check out the music video as well)

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Gl_s_li/7763300

_____________________________________________________

Elephant Gun – Beirut

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Elephant_Gun/1048627

Hope You Enjoy!

Viva La Musica!

A few months ago, I read the ultimate graphic novel, Alan Moore’s Watchmen. It is indeed an amazingly good book. I don’t normally cross over other media into this music based blog, but Watchmen is a story I read and can see it cinematically as well as imagining a great soundtrack to accompany it. I’ve seen the film yet, read first though as I thought it would be sacrilege to see it before i had read the novel. Although good, I have to admit that I was disappointed by it as a whole. It misses out major parts of the novel, but it is visually an impressive like-for-like copy. I even wrote notation on what i liked and what I didn’t, the dislikes out weigh the likes by a strong margin.

The soundtrack though, was one of the best things about the film, it had some inspired choices, including Hendrix. But, here is an alternative soundtrack formed from ideas when I first read the novel. I’ve compiled a short playlist to go with each of the 12 chapters of Watchmen.

Chapter 1
The Futureheads – He Knows

Chapter 2
Joy Division – Dead Souls

Chapter 3
Blondie – Heart of Glass

Chapter 4
Arcade Fire – My Body Is A Cage

Chapter 5
Radiohead – Karma Police

Chapter 6
Thom Yorke – Skip Divided

Chapter 7
The Strokes – What Ever Happened?

Chapter 8
Fleet Foxes – Heard Them Stirring

Chapter 9
The Cribs – Ancient History

Chapter 10
AC/DC – Back in Black

Chapter 11
Elle Milano – This Is How It Ends

Chapter 12
Echo & The Bunnymen – The Killing Moon

Listen and you’ll hopefully enjoy.

  Източник  

Превел от английски: Jacob_team

Коя е любимата ти сцена в “Новолуние”?

 Стефени Майер: Наистина не мога да избера само една. Харесвам толкова много неща. Първият разговор на Бела и Едуард на паркинга…монолога на Джесика… сцените в гаража на Джейкъб…първият път, когато Бела вижда глутницата!! Джейкъб в стаята на Бела (благодаря на Крис!)…момента под водата…това, което виждаме, докато слушаме невероятната песен на Thom Yorke … всичко в Италия…и бих могла да продължа да изреждам. Всичко е толкова хубаво.

Ще имаш ли някакви изяви в “Новолуние”?

 Стефени Майер: Не. Чувствах се твърде неловко и при първия филм и все още трябва да покривам очите си по време на тази част от филма. Този път реших,че не искам да правя нещо подобно, а и така и не стана на въпрос, така че проблемът въобще не се появи.

Какво мислиш за избирането на Робърт Патинсън да  играе Едуард, т.е. изглежда ли така, както очакваше, че Едуард би трябвало да изглежда и предава ли емоциите по правилния начин?

 Стефени Майер: Първоначално, когато Джилиан (продуцента) ми се обади и каза : „Ами, избрахме това момче, Робърт Патинсън. Потърси го в Гугъл и ми кажи какво мислиш”, мнението ми бе, че Роб ще направи добра версия на Едуард физически. Разбира се, не е този Едуард, който виждам в главата си, но е добър и интересен портрет. Докато го гледах в „Хари Потър” и проверявах снимките му онлайн, си мислех, че в лицето му има нещо неземно. Ако вампирите наистина съществуваха, това е лицето, което би те накарало да се замислиш, нали? Така че бях доволна от избора на Катрин Хардуик, защото така и така нямаше да намерим някой, който прилича на този от мозъка ми.

Продължих със същото мнение известно време. Срещнах се с Роб няколко пъти и бях впечатлена от това, колко много размисъл е вложил в образа (въпреки, че все още не сме напълно на едно мнение за това кой от нас разбира по-добре емоционалното състояние на Едуард—Роб твърди, че Едуард е по-депресиран, отколкото аз си мисля, че е) и с нетърпение очаквах да видя каква ще е неговата версия на Едуард. Няколко седмици след това, когат заминах за Портланд, за да наблюдавам снимачния процес и когато Катрин даде знак да започне заснемането на сцената и Роб влезе в образ, ми падна ченето.

Достатъчно е да кажа, че той наистина улови ролята. Той не играе версия на Едуард, той играе Едуард. Все още има значителна разлика между Едуард на Роб и Едуард в главата ми, но има моменти, в които са невероятно еднакви. Все още не съм сигурна как успява, но се радвам, че го прави. Що се отнася до емоциите, мисля, че се справя чудесно.

Разбира се, голяма част от заслугата за това е и на Кристен. Тя допринася по невероятно успешен начин за другата половина от тръпката между Бела и Едуард. Била съм на снимачните площадки на три филма дотук и все още се благодаря на късмета си, че се съгласих на този франчайз.

Ще има ли филм „Зазоряване”? Ако не си сигурна за това, би ли искала да има?

 Стефени Майер: В момента водим разговори по въпроса. Бих искала да видя „Зазоряване” като филм, стига да може да бъде направен добре. При нея е малко по-сложно, отколкото при  другите.

Докато  пишеше книгите, имаше ли колебание дали Бела ще избере Едуард или Джейкъб, или винаги си знаела, че тя най-накрая ще избере Едуард?

 Стефени Майер: Написах „Новолуние” и „Затъмнение” след като бях написала „Forever Dаwn”, което е горе-долу грубата чернова на „Зазоряване”. Така че винаги съм знаела, че съдбата на Бела е с Едуард и докато връзката й с Джейкъб еволюираше и се задълбочаваше в средните книги, понякога бе болезнено да пиша за това. Дори да знаех, че краят за Джейкъб ще бъд щастлив, ми бе много трудно да го подложа на цялата любовна мъка. Не знам какво щеше да се случи, ако Бела не бе скочила от скалата в онзи ден, но винаги знаех, че това е възможен сценарий, който не беше правилен.

Да кажем, че Бела отива в колеж. С каква професия си я представяш по-нататък?

 Стефени Майер: Винаги съм си представяла, че някой ден Бела ще преподава.Тя наистина се  възхищава на Рене за част от нейната личност – Рене може да е малко смахната, но тя е чудесен учител и децата я обичат – и аз виждах как любовта към книгите води Бела в тази посока. Тя би преподавала на по-възрастни ученици- в гимназия или колеж. Може би все още би могла- във вечерно училище.

От кой отбор е Стефани – тийм Джейкъб или тийм Едуард?

 Стефени Майер: Аз съм от отбор „Не е нужно да избирате, щом става въпрос за роман”.

Entah kenapa g (g: gue) lagi ingin bikin award2an. Dan untuk bulan ini, g ingin me-list 5 lagu duet tbaik yg pnah g dengar. Gr2 kmrn dgr playlist di hape kali ya. Ada bbrapa lagu duet yg menurut g bagus n mewakili bbagai genre.

Here is my top 5 list of best duet song.

#5
Ballad of Tom Jones (Space feat. Cerys Mathews)

Lagu kocak n sadeess… Tentang pasangan yg kayaknya berseteruuu terus. Ampe mo bunuh2an jo! Tapi gr2 dgr lagunya Tom Jones, hidup n cinta mereka terselamatkan. Musiknya ciri band Space banget, dengan efek2 suara sinyal alien gitu. Model lagunya ya sahut2an gitu trus di chorus nyanyi bareng2. Unik!

#4
Garden of Everything (Steve Conte and Sakamoto Maaya)

A song composed by my fav. composer, Yoko Kanno. Dimulai dengan beat yg lambat n pada part 2 jadi trip hop gitu… Kerren… Steve Conte menyanyi dlm bhs Inggris dan mendominasi di awal2 tiap part. Maaya sendiri menyanyi lbh banyak di bagian chorus dgn bahasa Jepang.

#3
Symmetry (Mew feat. Becky Jarret)

Sweet yet hurting love song. Bercerita ttg “indahnya” keraguan dalam mencintai seseorang. Suara Becky imut bangeet. Smntara suara Jonas Bjerre mengimbanginya dengan nada2 rendah. Musik yg apik n lirik yg mantap bikin trenyuuh… Love it!

#2
I’ve Seen It All (Bjork and Thom Yorke)

G suka Bjork, walau tbatas pada lagu2nya yg masih bermelodi wajar (hehe). G juga suka Radiohead, walau (juga) hanya tbatas pada lagu dgn melodi yg mudah dicerna. Lalu bgmna kalau Bjork n Thom Yorke gabung? Nyeleneh? Nope, nope, nope. Hasilnya baguuuuuusss… Sangat indah. Melodi yg kereeen. Lirik yang dalaaaam. Bcerita tentang arti “melihat” dunia secara sepantasnya, selektif n ga memaksakan diri. Eh, bener ga si? Itu arti yg g tangkap loh.

#1
Young Folks (Peter, Bjorn and John feat. Victoria Bergsman)

Ptama dgr pas thn 2006, saat menjelang akhr kul (ato udah lulus y? Lupa?). Beat yg cukup bikin g trance. Wkwkwk. Asik ni lagu. Nice lyric about accepting your partner as the way he/she is. Hoe~~ Jadi inget masa lalu. Well, the hell with that! LOL.

Is there any of your fav song in this list? Or you have your own fav duet song that you want to recommend me? Any feedback is welcomed.

Entah kenapa g (g: gue) lagi ingin bikin award2an. Dan untuk bulan ini, g ingin me-list 5 lagu duet tbaik yg pnah g dengar. Gr2 kmrn dgr playlist di hape kali ya. Ada bbrapa lagu duet yg menurut g bagus n mewakili bbagai genre.

Here is my top 5 list of best duet song.

#5
Ballad of Tom Jones (Space feat. Cerys Mathews)

Lagu kocak n sadeess… Tentang pasangan yg kayaknya berseteruuu terus. Ampe mo bunuh2an jo! Tapi gr2 dgr lagunya Tom Jones, hidup n cinta mereka terselamatkan. Musiknya ciri band Space banget, dengan efek2 suara sinyal alien gitu. Model lagunya ya sahut2an gitu trus di chorus nyanyi bareng2. Unik!

#4
Garden of Everything (Steve Conte and Sakamoto Maaya)

A song composed by my fav. composer, Yoko Kanno. Dimulai dengan beat yg lambat n pada part 2 jadi trip hop gitu… Kerren… Steve Conte menyanyi dlm bhs Inggris dan mendominasi di awal2 tiap part. Maaya sendiri menyanyi lbh banyak di bagian chorus dgn bahasa Jepang.

#3
Symmetry (Mew feat. Becky Jarret)

Sweet yet hurting love song. Bercerita ttg “indahnya” keraguan dalam mencintai seseorang. Suara Becky imut bangeet. Smntara suara Jonas Bjerre mengimbanginya dengan nada2 rendah. Musik yg apik n lirik yg mantap bikin trenyuuh… Love it!

#2
I’ve Seen It All (Bjork and Thom Yorke)

G suka Bjork, walau tbatas pada lagu2nya yg masih bermelodi wajar (hehe). G juga suka Radiohead, walau (juga) hanya tbatas pada lagu dgn melodi yg mudah dicerna. Lalu bgmna kalau Bjork n Thom Yorke gabung? Nyeleneh? Nope, nope, nope. Hasilnya baguuuuuusss… Sangat indah. Melodi yg kereeen. Lirik yang dalaaaam. Bcerita tentang arti “melihat” dunia secara sepantasnya, selektif n ga memaksakan diri. Eh, bener ga si? Itu arti yg g tangkap loh.

#1
Young Folks (Peter, Bjorn and John feat. Victoria Bergsman)

Ptama dgr pas thn 2006, saat menjelang akhr kul (ato udah lulus y? Lupa?). Beat yg cukup bikin g trance. Wkwkwk. Asik ni lagu. Nice lyric about accepting your partner as the way he/she is. Hoe~~ Jadi inget masa lalu. Well, the hell with that! LOL.

Is there any of your fav song in this list? Or you have your own fav duet song that you want to recommend me? Any feedback is welcomed.

È uno di quei successi annunciati, New Moon, uno di quei film da record di incassi prima ancora che siano usciti. È così ogni volta che intorno a un’opera si crea un alone che lo rende qualcosa di più di un semplice film. Così è il caso di soffermarsi sulle ragioni di un successo annunciato.

La prima è quella che in termini commerciali si definirebbe “fidelizzazione”. Tra la saga di Twilight e il suo pubblico si è creato un legame solido e inscindibile che nasce già dai libri. Come Harry Potter,  quella di Twilight è una saga, una serie di libri, che racconta una storia che non si esaurisce, ma prosegue attraverso i vari volumi. I lettori così si sposteranno da un libro all’altro, in modo che ogni libro verrà letto probabilmente più di quello precedente. Come per la saga del maghetto, i libri di Stephanie Meyer creano un mondo, che i lettori vogliono continuare a vivere andando al cinema, per vedere come prenderà forma sullo schermo quello che fino a quel momento era vissuto nella propria immaginazione. Così probabilmente i lettori del libro saranno i più appassionati spettatori del film. E a loro se ne aggiungeranno altri. Rispetto ai titoli della saga di Harry Potter, quella di Twilight potrebbe essere svantaggiata dal fatto che i libri non hanno un nome come comune denominatore (i titoli non iniziano ad esempio con Harry Potter e…), ma dei titoli diversi. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn (e ne arriverà prima o poi un quinto). Così al cinema i titoli sono stati raccolti sotto il nome The Twilight Saga.

Ma perché una saga abbia successo devono esserci dei contenuti. In questo senso la chiave vincente è stata travestire da horror quello che in fondo è un perfetto romanzo sentimentale. Non a caso in New Moon assistiamo a una serie di battute sul cinema, con Bella che dice di detestare i film romantici, e vorrebbe andare a vedere film d’azione, quasi che il regista volesse prendersi un po’ in giro. Perché New Moon, come Twilight, di horror ha ben poco. Non punta certo a spaventare: pensiamo che uno degli stilemi più spaventosi e spettacolari dei film di licantropi, le transizioni da uomo a uomo-lupo, qui avvengono all’istante, e il “mostro” altri non è che un lupo più grande. Invece il modello della storia di New Moon è uno degli archetipi delle sofferenza amorose, quel Giulietta e Romeo scritto qualche secolo fa da uno dei migliori “sceneggiatori” di tutti i tempi, Sir William Shakespeare, e citato in una delle prime scene del film. Anche qui ci sono due amanti divisi, non dal fatto di appartenere a due famiglie rivali, ma a due “razze” diverse, umani e vampiri (in questo il racconto potrebbe diventare una metafora della difficoltà delle coppie miste di oggi, ma non sembra mai andare in quella direzione). E il finale, in cui Edward, come Romeo, cerca la morte perché crede che la sua Bella, come Giulietta, sia morta, richiama proprio la trama di Shakespeare.

Ispirazioni celebri a parte, la saga di Twilight piace perché spinge all’identificazione. È narrata da un punto di vista prettamente femminile, quello di Bella, e riesce a cogliere molti degli aspetti tipici dell’adolescenza: il non sentirsi capiti, il non avere amici, la tentazione e il rischio di prendere una cattiva strada e di perdersi, il sentirsi diversi da chi ci sta intorno, unici, e il bisogno di ribadire, anche con rabbia, la propria unicità e la propria personalità. Bella, in New Moon, è diversa da tutti. Tra i vampiri della famiglia Cullen è l’unica umana, accettata ma mai fino in fondo, in costante pericolo. Ma è diversa anche tra i suoi simili, avendo varcato ormai una soglia dalla quale non può tornare indietro. E poi in New Moon, dopo l’innamoramento di Twilight, c’è la scoperta del sesso, del corpo, e di quel confine sottile tra amicizia a amore, come si vede nell’avvicinamento di Bella a Jacob. Per questo i film della saga Twilight sono dei film rivolti soprattutto a un pubblico giovane e femminile (e sono piuttosto odiati da quello maschile, vedi la guerra dei sessi scoppiata in rete). Lo dimostra la grande attenzione per pettorali e bicipiti che c’è in New Moon. In questo senso la cornice horror data alla storia (perché di cornice, e niente di più, si tratta) serve ad astrarre sentimenti e situazioni dell’adolescenza dalla realtà, a isolarli e renderli così più evidenti, assoluti. Le storie di Stephanie Meyer riescono, in parte, in quello in cui non riesce Moccia.

Cosa resta dunque dell’horror nella saga di Twilight? Non molto, diciamo una serie di suggestioni che servono a creare un’atmosfera intorno a una storia d’amore e di crescita. Stephanie Meyer prende una serie di figure archetipiche del cinema horror, il vampiro e il licantropo, e le svuota, interessandosi ai sentimenti e ai rapporti tra i personaggi, più che alle peculiarità dei tipi in questione. Succede il contrario di quello che capita spesso al cinema horror, dove le figure mostruose sono il cuore del film, e sono di volta in volta inserite in cornici storiche, sociali o culturali diverse, per tornare comunque prepotentemente al centro. Qui i personaggi sono il centro della storia, e sono essenzialmente caratteri con problemi e reazioni umane: il loro essere mostri è solo un contesto, un contorno, un colore. Ma al centro ci sono sempre le caratteristiche umane del personaggio. Così i vampiri non hanno il problema di non potere vedere la luce, o di uccidere gli umani a tutti i costi. E i licantropi non si trasformano con la luna piena, ma in seguito a emozioni rabbiose. Entrambi non diventano tali perché “non morti”, o morsi da altre creature, ma fanno parte di famiglie in cui tutti sono così. Quanto ai vampiri, assistiamo a una “normalizzazione” estrema della figura del vampiro. I Cullen sono persone normalissime, lontanissime dalla figura agghiacciante del Nosferatu di Murnau o di Herzog, ma anche dal Dracula di Bram Stoker di Coppola, e dai vampiri affascinanti ed eleganti anni Ottanta di Myriam si sveglia a mezzanotte, o dei dandy d’altri tempi di Intervista col vampiro, tratta dai libri di Anne Rice, e portata sullo schermo da Neil Jordan. Per andare incontro al suo pubblico, la saga di Twilight si avvicina a certi prodotti televisivi ai cui codici espressivi è abituato, cioè a serie che hanno sdoganato l’horror come prodotto per tutti, cioè Buffy, Angel e il recente True Blood.

La saga di Twilight è un perfetto esempio di film a target. Il che è interessante anche dal punto di vista commerciale, visto che permette di investire su un pubblico ben preciso. Ne è un esempio l’accattivante colonna sonora assemblando pezzi di gruppi rock, tra l’indie, l’emo e il dark, perfetti per accattivarsi il pubblico giovanile e costruire un’atmosfera oscura attorno al film. Ma, si sa, il rock è universale, e il risultato in questo caso è apprezzabile anche dai non giovanissimi. Tra canzoni dei Death Cab For Cutie, Killers e i nipotini dei Joy Division, The Editors, le cose più interessanti vengono da Thom Yorke, che, senza i suoi Radiohead, canta la sua Hearing Damage su un tappeto elettronico e cupo, che fa risaltare la sua inconfondibile voce, e dai Muse, con I Belong To You, che ripropongono il loro tipico sound con un tocco leggermente retro, vicino alle atmosfere di Feeling Good, la loro cover del pezzo reso famoso da Nina Simone.  

Prendete tutte queste premesse e metteteci quella enorme arma in più che ha il cinema: quella di creare icone e fissarle nell’immaginario in maniera indelebile. Certo, è presto, e probabilmente ingeneroso di parlare di icona, viste le vere icone che ha creato il cinema, per Edward Cullen. Ma rispetto all’aura di culto creata tra le adolescenti dai libri della Meyer, il grande schermo ha aggiunto il volto e il corpo di Robert Pattinson, diventato un vero idolo delle ragazze di tutto il mondo. La saga di Twilight lo mette in scena con un’aria alla James Dean, dimostrando di non volersi togliere nulla in fatto di esempi di ribellione giovanile. Il suo aspetto fisico, unito all’aura romantica del suo personaggio, ha fatto centro nel cuore di molte ragazze. L’attore londinese ha scatenato una mania che, restando nel mondo del cinema, non si vedeva dai tempi del primo Leonardo Di Caprio. In rete e nei negozi si trova qualunque cosa con il volto o il nome di Robert Pattinson, o del suo personaggio, Edward Cullen: magliette, tazzine, ombrelli, cappelli, borse, tende per la doccia e persino le mutande vanno a ruba. Robsessed (cioè obsessed by Rob, ossessionate da Rob) è il titolo di un documentario sull’attore (il dvd si trova in vendita su Amazon). La mania è totale. E come se non bastasse, Pattinson è anche un cantante rock, e tra qualche anno vorrebbe incidere un disco. Chissà come prenderanno le sue ammiratrici la notizia della sua love story. Chi poteva conquistare il cuore del bel Pattinson? Ma ovviamente la sua Bella, l’attrice Kristen Stewart. Dal set l’amore si sarebbe trasferito nella realtà, Edward e Bella si sarebbero impadroniti di Pattinson e la Stewart, facendo innamorare i due. Negli ultimi due mesi i due sono stati spesso fotografati insieme, e i giornali inglesi e americani stanno cavalcando la notizia. Che, diversamente dal solito, non sembra la solita trovata pubblicitaria. Speriamo che il loro amore sia meno tormentato di quello dei due personaggi. E che magari questo riesca a portare nei prossimi film un po’ più di chimica, di passione, di pathos. Cioè un tocco in più di realtà.

(Pubblicato su Movie Sushi)

WHAT IS MYSTERIOUS EXACTLY?! WHY DO SO MANY DIFFERENT WEBSITES OR NEWSPAPER ARTICLES DESCRIBE THE SOLO ARTIST AS “IN HIS OWN LITTLE WORLD,” “OUT THERE IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE” & MANY MORE SHADOW-LIKE DESCRIPTIONS THAT CREATE THE “MYTH OF THE MYSTERIOUS ARTIST WHO MAKES UNIQUE & COMPLEX NOiSE” – I HAPPEN TO LOVE THIS MUSIC BECAUSE I HAVE GROWN TIRED OF ALL THE “INDIE,” “HIPSTER” & “UNDERGROUND” BANDS THAT SOUND THE SAME AND MAKE AT LEAST TRES TRACKS WELL OVER 5 MINUTES LONG THAT THE MAIN MUSIC SITES BUST A NUT OVER EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOTHING EVEN CLOSE TO SPECIAL. FOR THEM TO LOVE RADIOHEAD IS A-OK BECAUSE THAT BAND CREATES MUSIC NOONE CAN TOUCH. THEIR B-SIDES THAT WEREN’T EVEN RELEASED BY THE BAND (8 TRACKS FROM IN RAINBOWS) USUALLY COMPARE SIDE BY SIDE AND SOMETIMES EVEN MURDER CERTAIN TRACKS OFF THE ACTUAL ALBUM. ANY OTHER BAND WOULD MAKE AS MUCH MONEY POSSIBLE OFF OF SONGS THAT WEREN’T ON THEIR #1 SELLING CD ACROSS THE WHOLE GLOBE (ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS AFTER THEY SOLD MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF CD’S FOR A PAY WHAT YOU WANT SCHEME 3.42 MONTHS EARLIER, WHICH ALSO LED TO BIG TIME ARTISTS SUCH AS JAY-Z & TRENT REZNOR TO FOLLOW SUIT) ~

SO, HE DREAMS AWAKE IS BASICALLY WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL HIM, BUT I HAVE FOUND 48 SONGS OF HIS AROUND THE INTERNET AND I LOVE ALL OF THEM IN THEIR OWN SPECIAL WAY.. CLOSE TO 50 SONGS RECORDED AND EVEN THOUGH HE DECLINES INTERVIEWS AND ALL THAT, I HEARD A PHONE INTERVIEW HE DID WITH AN INDIE WEBSITE/BLOG AND HE SAID THAT HE ISN’T TRULY HAPPY WITH ANYTHING HE HAS MADE UP TO THIS DATE AND THAT HIS DEBUT ALBUM WHICH IS HALFWAY COMPLETED IS LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF THE SONGS PEOPLE CAN FIND RIGHT NOW. HE PLAYS BY HIS OWN RULES, MAKES SONGS IN THEIR OWN FORMULAS/KEYS/SCALES/FORMATS/ETC. & I WILL PROCLAIM HIM THE NEXT RADIOHEAD FROM ONLY HEARING THE 48 SONGS HE MADE ON HIS OWN.. IMAGINE IF NIGEL GODRICH PRODUCED HIS FIRST CD!! JEEZ LOUISE!! I JUST WANTED THIS IN PRINT. I LOVE YOU HDAWAKE! I LOVE YOU EVEN MORE RADIOHEAD!!