More Music from Hipsterville

So as you'll soon begin to realize with the suggestions I make, I have a thing for two piece bands. Maybe it was getting over exposed to George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic  or Earth, Wind, and Fire, and even throw in every hip hop act since 1992. But those guys always had 30 people on stage. In the first two cases it was ok because everyone on stage had a role. You'd play trumpet, hit the bongos, or walk around on stage wearing nothing but a diaper. But the hip hop acts bothered me because it would be 20 dudes on stage and everyone has a mic. And the only person who's mic sucked would be the actual rapper who you went to see. And it's not like the other guys actually know the song; all they know is the last word of each rhyme. "....TIGHT!!!.....NIGHT!!" Just annoying! Do these guys get paid? Do they actually get groupies??? So right now I'm actually feeling the more stripped down sound. I'm sure I'll get over it. But with that said...

One of the best shows at SXSW this year was by the Japandroids. I actually discovered them 2 years ago at SX but thankfully they came back. It was Friday morning and everyone and I mean everyone parties balls at SX, so morning is a relative term. Point is we were all hung over, including the band. So I finally get to tell the drummer David, how he inspired me to start drumming again and the only thing I actually get out is "uh...you guys rock!" He looks at me a bit confused; not sure if I'm the guy working security that day or what, and says "uh...thanks". If you have never seen them live, that's what their sound is built for. Recording is an afterthought. Their recorded material is awesome but nothing compared to their live shows. What's great about them is that their lyrics remind you of the simple things in life. They're all about partying, chasing girls, and falling in love. But most of that is drowned out by the distortion and the drums. It literally sounds like there's 5 of them on stage. Check them out. They are definitely not for everyone though, so for that reason I give them a rating a very fresh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOoHAbnhxNI
http://japandroids.com/

The next band, I had moderate interest in. Two cute British chicks who sing moody pop music. Hey you give me that accent and some fresh haircuts and I'll check out anything. They're called 2:54.  I saw them at some small Rainey St bar's backyard and as it typically goes in a backyard, the set up couldn't handle a show and their equipment failed. But for the few songs I heard, they sounded pretty good and I could definitely see the appeal. Nothing too complicated, just pseudo dark pop complaining about being in a city that sucks because it rains all of the time, so they are stuck in dark taverns with toothless drunken men who say inappropriate things. Amazingly the city they are referencing isn't Houston. (aaah...Houston. I kid, i kid). So while it wasn't for me I can see why they will be popular and hopefully will replace The XX. Rating - kind of weak.
twofiftyfour.net/

The Hunger Games

***spoiler alert***

Let me just get that out of the way now. I wont drop too many and certainly none that would ruin the movie for you but I know how crazy the world is for this movie right now. So I thought I'd give a fair warning to those die hards that have been looking forward to this movie like it's a Whataburger at 2:30 on a Saturday night.

Anyway, this review is going to sound like I hated the movie but in actuality I liked it. I knew there was A LOT of hype over the books and the movie and all along I was not looking forward to it because I have seen Battle Royale and The Running Man already. And they both had the common decency to be rated R. If you're going to have kids killing kids, you may as well show the blood. But I went in with an open mind because it is based off of Young Adult novels and they have to give kids the chance to see their replacement of Harry Potter. And everything these days steals something from the past anyway so whatever.  But I will say this, if you did not read the books, make sure you talk to someone who has so they can give you a general outline of the story. Because the movie just jumps right in and kind of glosses over the fact that the haves totally punked the have nots when they tried to revolt because they were hungry. So to help keep the have nots under control the District stages this annual event where they take one boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts and have them fight to the death on national tv. There's only one winner, you get mentors, and people can pledge money to help you out. I wont insult your intelligence, by word of mouth alone, I am sure you know the story. Kind of a nice indictment on society and our obsession with reality tv. blah blah blah

Jennifer Lawrence is terrific in it, just as she was in Winters Bone (another great Bond name). As a matter of fact, she carries the movie. If she weren't cast as Katniss this would probably be unwatchable. She owns every scene and seeing as how she's in almost everyone of them, that's key. The pacing of the movie makes you completely forget that its 140 minutes long, yes 140 minutes. So for that I give Gary Ross credit, however that's where it ends. He is not a sci fi director at all. I would have loved to have seen Andrew Niccol (Gattaca) or Ridley Scott (he's been a little busy lately though, see Prometheus) get a shot at this. Too much shaky cam and some bad fx. The evil dogs or wolves or whatever they were supposed to be at the end were just laughable. And for some reason the movie turns into Twilight at the end, complete with a love triangle. Wes Bentley was a complete waste as Crane. Your lame character from American Beauty where you gush over a paper cup whirling in the wind doesn't work here scrub. Sam Rockwell would've killed this role and actually added something to this character. And we all know why Lenny Kravitz was cast; so that the mom's would have something to look at. But if that's the case, just have dude walk around the entire time shirtless showing off his Lisa Bonet tattoo! I did however like the instant healing cream they used at times. Reminded me of the magical baths they took in Wanted but without the awesome scene where Jolie steps out of the creamy tub (yes I'm aware of how that sounds). Seriously though, where was Lawrence's bath scene? And as long we're stealing ideas from Wanted, why not give her the power to "bend" as well. Her shooting arrows around trees would have added pure freshness to the movie. Anyway, this is getting way too long. The point is despite all of these glaring flaws, the story, the pacing , and Jennifer Lawrence make you overlook these things and you walk out feeling like it was money and time well spent! Plus it's good to see Woody Harrelson getting consistent work. Overall I'd say this movie is slightly Fresh.

Movies are easy

So there is a reason why I see over 100 movies a year in the theater. I am just not sure that I can articulate the reason why in a manner that would make you think anything other than this guy is crazy. So instead I'll just give you a brief look into what I look for in a movie.

First off, you will not like my reviews of movies if  I loved it and you read the books and were looking for a word for word regurgitation of the books on the screen. There is a reason why it's called an adapted screenplay. They must take the novel or short story and turn it into something that translates well on the screen. For example, if your bad guy was originally supposed to be a giant blood blob that tries to kill Blade at the end of the story, that's great for you to imagine while reading it. However on screen it just looks ridiculous. So instead just have a 5'2" Stephen Dorff develop blood red eyes and say things like "look at you! You're a little bitch!". Much much better. I gave up on looking for the movie to be just like the book in junior high when I saw Fahrenheit 451 and the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet (my school was cheap). The toy cars on fire were hilarious but just totally killed the visions I had developed in my head. Also, we suffered through the awful Romeo and Juliet just to get to the only good scene. You know the one; where they finally hook up and we get to see Olivia Hussey's (great Bond name btw) awesome rack, and the stupid visual aids department has removed the love scene from the movie!!! I mean come on!!! That's like your mom walking in on you right before...well nevermind, you get it. But I digress.

All I am looking for in a big budget movie is to be entertained. Honestly, if you know your movie sucks, just realize that and have fun with it. From Paris with Love is one of the worst yet freshest movies ever! Rent it for a lazy Saturday afternoon and you'll see why! I'll watch anything that has aliens, vampires, robots, and/or martial arts in it. Hopefully all 4. I share this view with a guest blogger friend of mine who you'll meet soon enough. Unless it's a Batman movie by Christopher Nolan or maybe another Terminator movie, no movie should be longer than 110 minutes. While I don't need a tan, I certainly don't want to spend my entire day in a dark room with people who just left their dark room at home.

Smaller budget movies, I expect a lot from. Original stories, non distracting directing, good acting, and the token hottie. Anyway, you'll get a sense of what I like as this goes. And with that said...

Some of the best of SXSW

Ok so now that I have officially recovered from the week long celebration that is SXSW which culminated with me in VIP of Hype Hotel drinking Titos and Sprite, eating the best taco ever known to man the Doritos Taco Locos, and dancing on couches to what I believe were the Cavemen at 4 am. I can finally talk about the best bands of the week. By the way, how I make it through this week partying all day and night drug free still amazes me!

So I'm going to cheat a bit with my first entry because these guys were supposed to come but as it goes with SX, it didn't happen. However I love their sound! The Hunters, a two piece band from Brooklyn, is like grungy punk with both Derek and Isabel pitching in on the vocals. The second you hear Brat Mouth it grabs a hold of you and is in your head for the rest of the day, which is a good thing. Unlike that Copasetic song by some other two piece band. They are kind of hard to find on the web but try here WWW.HUNTERSNY.BANDCAMP.COM
Can't wait for them to come to Austin! They are definitely Tight!!!

My second recommendation is Hanni El Khatib. You'll recognize him from his song You Rascal You. Which is an ok catchy little tune but what caught my attention were the songs he performed while just walking the streets of San Fransisco. http://www.hannielkhatib.com/ scroll down a bit. I think Springsteen did something similar but  I don't recognize any Boss songs that were made post Dancing in the Dark. I mean once you reach your pinnacle you really should just retire and spend the rest of your days in your Minneapolis mansion making girls bathe while covered in gold paint. Anyway, the time I saw him live I wasn't that impressed but I could see he was more concerned about maintaining his skateboarder image than performing. Once he gets over that he'll blow up and I'm sure he'll be at every festival this year. I'm going to put as slight Fresh for now.

About Only Freshness

First off, let me start by saying this blog is certainly not for everyone. I know that I am stating the obvious but in some recent encounters I've realized that you need to state the obvious so there's no confusion. For example "Um, no I have no idea where the rodeo is". I'm a black guy who wears fingerless gloves for no apparent reason, this should be obvious to you but apparently not.

Anyway, this blog is here to help you determine which of the many bands you should actually waste your time listening to. In a time where anyone who can play a ukulele and a triangle can form a band and gain instant success just by posting a few youtube videos,  its hard sometimes to decipher through all of these awful bands to see who actually has talent. For some reason people think I have good taste in music and my library grows every year with my access to the such awesome festivals such as SXSW, Austin City Limits, FFFfest, and Psychfest just to name a few. I treat discovering new bands like it's my job for some weird reason, but i love it! You will get a feel for the type of music I like as this goes but just know that the grading scale works on a Wack to Tight scoring system. Wack being the worst thing ever, Weak meaning they're terrible but there's some redeeming value in them, Fresh meaning a really good band that I'd recommend, and then Tight which means they are the greatest thing ever.

This blog will also help you when it comes to movies. I see literally over 100 movies in the theater a year, so instead of you wasting your hard earned money on flops; please allow me to waste my money first so that  I can tell you whether its fresh or weak. Could save you from wasting 40 bucks and possibly getting a night on the couch.

Oh well, should be fun

Lates