Central Village

Kong-a-long

Let me say right out that this movie needed to be three hours long. It was a grandiose epic on an unparalleled scale. Anything shorter would have felt lackluster...I honestly believe this. I just wish those three hours were a little better distributed.

One of my biggest issues with movies in general is the pacing. The scenes and plot points get too clumped together and I lose the flow. I don't need to spend 45 minutes on one scene if you're gonna skim through 3 others that could have been equally important. While I was moved and impressed by Kong in a number of ways, if was frustrating how disconnected the acts were. They could have taken out an hour of the current movie, add some more (relevant...sorry black guy and kid...didn't need that) character development, maybe a good 20-30 minutes between skull Island and opening night and a little bit more NY rampage time. Something to make the movie flow a little bit better.

That being said, what was presented was spectacular. The Skull Island scenes are as intense as anything I've ever seen and the final Empire State Building stage will go down as one of the most breathtaking movie moments ever. The level of detail they put into 1930's Manhattan from that vantage point was unbelievable. I could probably see my apartment if I looked carefully enough. Jack Black and Naomi Watts were very good, but the guy who played the movie star was the best. And Kong is brilliant. Maybe not today, but soon they're gonna have to figure out how to give CGI creations Academy Awards.

Heart on a Stick has his take on the movie as well...

I'm just the nuts in your bedpost

I'm no fan of Fall Out Boy. I've got nothing against them I guess, just never gave them much notice. This video, however, is an absolute riot. It's funny, because the first time I heard this song and ever gave it any attention was during Karaoke, when, obviously the lyrics are made pretty clear. I really had no idea how retarded it sounds. Till I watched this. Enjoy. (via ultragrrrl)

Oh, and speaking of mainstream emo shite (kidding! Sorta), Ben Gibbard is playing Bowery Ballroom solo on January 10th. Tix are on sale now.

Don't forget the songs that made you cry...and the songs that saved your life

According to iTunes, these are my 25 most listened to songs as of 12/28/05. While not all of these songs were released in 2005, I put them all on my computer either this year or late last year, so this is more or less what I've been listening to for the last 12 months.

It's actually pretty boring, I'm afraid. I'm primarily an album guy...especially when sitting in my room at my computer at home. I don't pick and choose singles too often. Obviously, the albums I listened to the most (Cloud Cult, Wolf Parade, Stars, Okkervil River, Maximo Park) Are well represented. It also doesn't take into consideration what I listened to at work, in my living room, or while moving about on my iPod, which makes up a good chuck of my music listening. I'm not a huge fan of this list really, but the numbers don't lie. I talk about a lot of bands and a lot of music, but these are the songs I always come back to. Says something, I guess.

Check out the ILB's most listened to list as well.

1. Bright Eyes - Gold Mine Gutted
Whoh...this one really snuck up there.
2. Kings of Leon - Milk
3. Stars - Your Ex-Lover is Dead
4. Colin Meloy - I Know Very Well How I Got My Name
This is my favorite off the Morrissey CD
5. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
First track off one of my most listened to albums of the last year.
6. The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers - Lisa
7. Brand New - Okay, I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't
8. Maximo Park - I Want You to Stay
9. Tegan and Sarah - You Wouldn't Like Me
10. Cloud Cult - Training Wheels
Was my favorite song off the album for a long time. The first I heard off KEXP.
11. Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
12. Cloud Cult - Living on the Outside of Your Skin
13. Cloud Cult - What Comes at the End
14. Maximo Park - The Coast is Always Changing
15. Okkervil River - Black
16. Wolf Parade - I am a Runner and You are My Father's son
17. The Album Leaf - Twenty Two Fourteen
18. Cat Power - He War
Nine Inch Nails uses this as warm up music before they go on stage...Remembered hearing it before their set both times I saw them...stuck with me moreso than any of their new album.
19. Editors - Munich
20. Wolf Parade - Fancy Claps
21. Wolf Parade - Dear Sons and Daughters of Lonely Ghosts (EP version)
22. CYHSY - Details of the War
Wouldn't say this is my favorite CYHSY track, but I guess it got the most plays
23. Nine Black Alps - Shot Down
I listened to this EP a lot over the Summer. Best song on there.
24. The Go Find - Over the Edge
25. Cloud Cult - Happy Hippo

Bored?

In my elevator at work we have a little LCD screen with news, weather, etc. Going between floors a few minutes ago, I saw a release stating that this week on Yahoo you can stream a couple episodes of...wait for it...How I Met Your Mother! Woooo! Good episodes too! My all time favorite, which I wrote about here, and another great one where Ted and Barney go on an adventure to Philly. So if you're sitting at home with the week off, or at work while everyone else in your department is taking the week off, it's worth a watch. I promise. Check em out here.

Be careful what you put them through...

I saw Munich on Christmas with my parents. It was very good, but not without its faults. Our biggest point of confusion was why Eric Bana was so worked up about the Munich Olympics incident...I kept on waiting to find out that his father (who they referenced as an Israeli hero several times) was involved or killed or something, but it was never really made clear. Obviously it was a horrible event, but they made it out like he took it worse than most and that it was the only thing that kept him going on his mission. Didn't seem to add up.

There was one part that was laughably bad. I couldn't take seriously the violent lovemaking session where it flashed between the Munich Airport shootout and Bana's sweaty frame. Such an important moment in the backstory should have been handled more carefully. Everything else was done in typical excellent Spielberg fashion, but that scene was just too over the top.

The tough thing about a movie like this is that the expectations are so high to begin with, that it is nearly impossible to live up to. Anything Spielberg does is going to be put against stuff like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List, and that's just an impossible standard to live up to. I liked the main story just fine...The characters were all excellent and the pacing was spot on. The whole pro/anti-Israel thing didn't bother/affect me as much as some critics. I don't think it was overly sympathetic to either side. It was really just a good spy movie, put in the context of a very serious historical event. If you haven't seen it yet, it's probably best viewed that way.

Karen and Brooklyn Vegan saw it this weekend and share their brief opinions as well.

Should have known

I feel like I've been actively avoiding Rainer Maria for the last 2 years. I've never given them much of a listen, I've marked down their sets in NY several times, but never made it out to see them play. I was killing time on eMusic this weekend...trying to use up the rest of my December credits before the new year, and decided to download one of their albums. Whatdoyaknow, I really really like it. Go fig. I think all this time I just didn't like their name.

Anyway, they're playing at Northsix on January 29th, which is the same night as Broken Social Scene, but that show'll end early due to the Webster Hall weekend rock curfew and I should be able to hop over to Williamsburg in plenty of time.

Rainer Maria - Breakfast Of Champions

There are actually a bunch of good shows coming up at N6 in the next few months. I barely ever go to stuff out there these days it seems, but it's still one of my favorite venues in the city. I dunno what the story is with the L this winter, (I thought I remember reading it would be shut down most weekends till March,) But here's some stuff out there I'd maybe like to go check out. (I starred the definites)

*1/17: Burnside Project/Eiffel Tower/The Diggs
*1/27: Rainer Maria
2/2: Some Girls
2/4: Calla
2/18: We Are Wolves
*2/19: Wolfmother (no joke)
*3/1: Test Icicles
3/21: Matt Pond PA/Youth Group

iDeath

I am 95% sure my iPod is deadzo. In fact, its path of death has eerily traced Catherine's iPod. So much so that I remember a few weeks ago when it started showing symptoms, I remember reading Catherine's timeline and thought "Wow, that sounds a lot like whats going on with mine..." Foolishly thinking I could avoid the same fate. But now it's really, actually dead. I think. I may swing by the Apple Store sometime this week and see if they can do anything for me, but I've pretty much lost hope. What really sucks is that I had successfully convinced myself not to buy the video iPod and wait for the next gen (with dreams of a better screen, etc), but now it looks like I'll end up getting one anyway. Too bad.

Picture above taken of a bathroom wall in a bar in Williamsburg late last Friday night...of course.

Questions...

What does "An Evening With...Broken Social Scene" mean? Are they gonna play a big long set and forgo any openers? I think 2+ hours of BSS would rule, but is this another step in the direction of BSS making the jamband crossover?

Are all the NYE shows listed already? Not that I really love going to shows to bring in the New Year, it's still nice to have the options. In hindsight, that CYHSY show turned out to be quite the blockbuster. Craigslist tix are going for upwards of $250 for a pair.

Speaking of New Years, anyone watch How I Met Your Mother this week? Second best episode of the season. It all takes place in a limo, with a strict plan to hit up 5 parties in three hours before midnight. Of course, the night gets off track and trouble ensues. It was very cute.

It looks like The Walkmen are playing the Middle East in Boston at the end of January. Any word on a NYC date around the same time, or is this a special benefit or something?

Did anybody else on the east coast realize that Nightmare of You and She Wants Revenge are the hottest shit on LA commercial radio these days? My buddy who lives out there is back home for the week and says he hears their respective singles get played at least two times a day. I guess I can see the appeal of both, I just had no idea they had gotten so big.

Anyone know the best way to get to Williamsburg around 7:30 tonight without the trains running? I guess cabbing it is really the only way to go, huh. I went to work today for the first time all week (The PATH train from 9th to 33rd took maybe 5 minutes longer than the NRQW) and really don't fully understand the new rules. It'll be $15 from below 14th street to the other side of the Williamsburg bridge, right?

The First Craigslist freakout of 2006?

It's been quite a while since we had a genuine Craigslist FREAKOUT over a band playing in the city. Well, Editors are coming in a few weeks and they just sold out their Mercury Lounge show in 10 minutes. To compare, it took the Arctic Monkeys weeks before they sold out their first show (which resulted in only a minor freakout, wet blanketed by one of the shows being moved to Bowery). Could this be a throwback to the Bloc Party or Arcade Fire shows at Bowery? Or, dare I say, Beck at Hiro Ballroom?? $100 a ticket? Public sex act requests?? Who knows. It should be a riot.

Be sure to follow along with the fun over the next couple weeks. Nothing really up yet, but just wait. This is what happens when a band that starts poking its head around in May doesn't come play New York till 8 months later...

Pitchfork Year End Lists

Somewhat uneventful? With the exception of Cam'ron in the top 10 (seriously...what is that all about?), the best albums of the year look perfectly fine to me. There are plenty of personal 2005 favs that are left off, but what can you do. At a quick count, I've only listened to about 30 of the 50 albums listed, so at the very least, It provided some recommendations for me to dig up over the coming slow months.

As for the top singles, I see they were clearly judged as singles and not just the best songs of the year. Fine by me. As a result, the top 10 is heavily dominated by club music. It's not what I tend to listen to, so I can't really disagree with their picks.

That's all. I wish I could muster up some outrage or shock, but this all seems perfectly fine.