TheMaker

Surprised to see Cale getting the nod here, as he's never done much for me, at least not outside the Velvets. Paris 1919 gets a ton of positive ink, so when I finally checked it out I was surprised to find that it sounded like a boring, homogeneous mass of music. Just couldn't get into it at all. Lou by miles of aisles. That's my answer. Yeah, he's got some egregious lows, for sure, but the highs are astonishing. I probably enjoy his solo canon a bit more than the Velvets', truth be known.

This IS just a boot, right? I wonder why the NME is reporting on it as if it were a sanctioned release...

That anecdote about Townes was heartbreaking and - forgive me for sounding harsh and unsympathetic to his lifestyle - cool as hell.

Come on, seriously? He sounds bored, old or sick. Maybe even a combination of all three... Not kidding, my first thought, beyond "Wow, this first track sounds like bland, generic top 40 shit" was, "Man, dogg sounds rough as heck."

Okay, so this is out now. I only got a chance to listen to it once yesterday, but I really liked what I heard. Lots of piano, lots of horns. Thoughts?

I agree that he's still great live, but man, I couldn't even get through this, seriously. I don't really like anything he's done post-Sugar. Don't know what happened to the guy, but I can't get on-side for the life of me.

http://m.assetbar.com/achewood/uuaBXN7pD

Whoa! Three Snakes has a fan-! Ah, I kid. It's not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be.

I'm really puzzled by Atonement's win. Not only that it was chosen over the two finest American films in many years (NCFOM and TWBB), but that it's garnered any praise at all. The only movie I've walked out on this year. Not quite artless, but hardly engrossing. To each their own, I suppose... And for all that I loved both Ratatouille and The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, I can't help feeling like Persepolis got shafted somehow.

I'll leave the nervous tittering to posters who are even more immature than I am, but I will say that the sauna fight scene was unbelievably well choreographed. It was just brutal as hell and frighteningly convincing, I thought.

Me too. What a perfect little movie. Marketa Irglova was absolutely enchanting, and Glen Hansard is the most likeable guy in the world, I think. They were both just so charming. The songs were outstanding, too. I remember checking out The Frames a few years back and not liking them, but I'm definitely interested in listening to their new one.

It took me seven posts to figure out what the remotest fuck this thread is about. For real. Anyway, I don't drive. I guess that's obvious now. P.S., "Garmin" is the most made-up sounding name ever.

Yeah, if I hear a song with a stronger first verse in '08 than Monument Valley, I'll be fucking astonished. It's pretty stunning.

Jpod on CBC. I was a little nervous when I heard this was going to be adapted for television, even with Coupland writing the script, but the first episode was surprisingly good. The cast is a little too TV-attractive (especially Cowboy and Kaitlin), but Ethan and his parents come across fairly well. The actress who plays his mom nails the character and a goofy Alan Thicke works surprisingly well as his dad. Can't wait to see if Coupland himself shows up when things go a big meta one on us.

I didn't know Nat either, but I'd also like to extend my sympathies. She had the kind of vibrant personality that somehow manages to transcend the anonymity of cyberspace and remind you that an actual person is responsible for the words you're looking at on the screen. I can see why everybody who had the privilege of knowing her is so broken up by this news. This was quite a shock to have to hear about. RIP.

MARC RIBOT.

Bale is great, and BB is my favourite superhero flick ever. Speaking of Bale, I watched 3:10 to Yuma last night, and that's a doozy of a movie as well. I think Bale does the absolute best American accent of any Brit I've ever seen. His cape is seldom hanging out the back of his jacket, so to speak.

This was absolutely masterful. Even if it were a dry exercise - which it isn't, by a damned long shot - it'd still be an expert lesson in pacing and nuanced storytelling. One of the best pieces of fiction I read in 2007, in any genre or format. The same could be said for this book, which seemed to come out of nowhere. (Actually, it came from here: http://www.actustragicus.com) And on a personal note, I'm working on some stuff for Image and Arcana that'll start coming out in May. Expect big pimpage, motherfuckers!

This is seriously brilliant. It's about time an entertainer actually did something entertaining! Somebody needs to pressure Conan into recording a record NOW.

You hate a great album, are still making self-centered posts in the music forum more than two years after joining the site and really seem to enjoy projecting. Congratulations, I guess...? Anyway, one of my greatest experiences seeing Wilco live was hearing this song at my first show back in '02. Glenn's metronomic drumming and the pared-down four-man lineup (Mike was just the laptop guy) at the time really brought out the best in the song.

Me too. By Your Side, Amorica and Southern Harmony are my favs. I haven't listened to the others in years. This song sounds pretty fucking awesome. Much better than anything on Lions, and decidedly By Your Sidesque.

Yeah. There's more to blogs than MP3s and industry chatter. This one is very smart and often hilarious.

Elyse is no run-of-the-mill bubblehead. This story is old news for those of us who follow her blog... http://elysesewell.livejournal.com/ Edit: Apparently the big post about the bruhaha has been locked. Ah, well. It's interesting.

When does this open wide? End of the month? I've actually been looking for a torrent, I'm so damned eager for this 'un, and I never do that!

I saw this again a few nights ago, and I'm rather convinced now that it's the best American film I've seen in many, many, many years. A true masterpiece, head down, flat out, in every sense. I screw up the quote function nearly half the time, but Beltmann said this: And it's just bang on, at least for my money. I think there's a real nihilistic bent to the story, which manifests itself powerfully in the film's startling and quite discomfiting final act. Ed Tom visits his brother (cousin? All I could tell for certain is that he's played by the wonderful character actor Barry Corbin, wh