New Orleans Film Fest

Tonight I attended a film at the 18th annual New Orleans Film Fest. Though I do like film fests very much, I must confess that this was the first time I had been much less even heard of the fest. For shame. The fest goes on from the 11th-18th of this month at three different theaters around the city. Check out the website for locations, showtimes, and movie description.

Tonight I saw King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, a thrilling documentary about the conquest for world domination via the official high score on the original Donkey Kong arcade game (think Mario, the Princess, rolling barrels, elevators, fireballs, etc.).

It stars 35-year-old Steve Wiebe, a science teacher from Redmond, WA, who was on a quest to beat the world high score in an effort to accomplish something definitively meaningful in his life. Before then, his life had been a story of near-championships, near-promotions, near-successes. As an avid athlete, musician, and fill in the blank hopeful, he found solace sitting in his garage on a barstool in front of the soft glow from the screen of this 1981 Nintendo classic.

Enter Billy Mitchell: reigning world champion from his original competition in 1982. He holds (held) numerous world gaming records and is a self-proclaimed perfect man in everything he does. The movie goes on to show tears of defeat, tears of victory, a bunch of gaming nerds, a hilarious helmet-like mullet, and one very courageous Steve Wiebe.

This is definitely a film any independent movie fan should see. So get your NetFlix queues ready, people. Also, stay posted on the NOFF website for more films. Go support indie filmmakers.

Royal American - Don't Waste Water

Last Friday the members of Royal American walked into the store to rent some stuff and generally shoot the breeze. Apparently they're an indie pop band based out of Brooklyn and New Orleans. When they returned the stuff, they dropped off a couple copies of the new EP Don't Waste Water. Today I threw it in not knowing what to expect and it turns out it's really good. They played here at Checkpoint Charlie's on Friday and I wished I had heard this CD last week because I'm betting it was a good show.

Don't expect them to change the world or become blog stars, but if you're in the mood for 6 strong pop songs then check out either the Royal American MySpace page or the official website.

My personal favorite is "Fire One Down." The CD sounds good, the songs are just the right length (something that is incredibly important to pop), and the band members are ridiculously nice guys. Give them a listen. Maybe even buy the EP from iTunes.

Royal American - Fire One Down

Voodoo Fest News!

Though it's just a rumor, I couldn't help but spread it if only to add a little fuel to the fire.

At a recent event, I overheard Steve Rehage (founder and promoter of Voodoo Fest) say he was working on getting Rage Against the Machine to open their set with "When The Levee Breaks" and bringing in Trent Reznor and Robert Plant to play with them. That would be huge. That would be bigger than huge. If it happens it will be monumental and will create such a huge buzz that Rehage is going to have a very hard time next year booking talent good enough to bring people from all over the country again.

Don't get me wrong, the fact that both RATM and the Smashing Pumpkins are coming this year is amazing but how can that be topped? Zeppelin reunion (WITHOUT JASON BONHAM)? Sabbath? I don't know. Either way, keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Elton John - Friends

In 1971, writer/director Lewis Gilbert made Friends and, in a moment of what would turn out to be genius, chose Elton John to do the soundtrack. The movie did poorly in theaters both in the US and its native UK while the soundtrack went on to do fairly well. The title track rose to #34 on the Billboard charts and put the names Elton John and, to a lesser extent, Bernie Taupin into the minds of their future adoring American fans.

To my knowledge, this soundtrack has only been available on hard to find vinyl in the US. It had a limited CD release in the UK and is just as rare as the vinyl recording. This week, however, I was lucky enough to lay my hands upon a copy.

It is a typical soundtrack with its dramatic and emotional music and instrumental pieces with moments of dialogue. On a side note, after hearing some of the dialogue it's easy to understand why the film didn't do so well. The album is 10 songs of hit or miss music. When it hits, it's dead on. When it's miss, it's the dialogue-riddled long-winded instrumental pieces (which may be just fine for some). The pleasant exception is the too-short ballad "Seasons Reprise," beautifully constructed around his voice. It reminds me of Rufus Wainwright's fully orchestrated album Want One, which is also fantastic.

Either way, it's interesting to hear the early music of Sir Elton and lyrics of Mr. Taupin. One of my favorite records of all time is the 5-star 1972 masterpiece Honky Chateau so hearing the music that was leading up to his peak is a bit of an adventure. His vocal melodies (especially in the chorus of "Michelle's Song") are actually more similar to the songs he has written in the past 10 or 15 years. "Can I Put You On" and "Honey Roll" are easily the greatest b-sides he has ever recorded and belong alongside their peers on either Tumbleweed Connection or Honky Chateau. It certainly doesn't hurt that the band that made him famous was full constructed at this point (most notably to me Nigel Olsson).

I know this is a rare find, I know it was released some 36 years ago (which is straying far from my normal reviewing period), and I know many of you may think of Elton John as the man wearing funny glasses, singing "Bennie and the Jets," and responsible for the Lion King soundtrack, but his early stuff really is amazing. So, if you can't find Friends anywhere (which is a guarantee), then try to pick up either Honky Chateau or Tumbleweed Connection. Don't do it for me, do it for you.

In Rainbows

I got home late last night after some birthday celebrations for yours truly and was thrilled to see the download code awaiting in my email inbox. I immediately downloaded the album and listened to a couple of tracks before sleeping. I woke up early this morning to listen again and am listening again now after work.

I can't figure it out. Is it the best album or the second worst (the worst obviously being Pablo Honey...what an embarrassment that was)? I'm really having a hard time figuring it out. I love (like everyone else) The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A but thought Hail to the Thief was boring. Thom Yorke's Eraser was fantastic but he hired long time Radiohead and Beck producer Nigel Godrich to help him shape the record. According to some reports, there would be no album without Godrich's songwriting, producing, arranging, etc.

Having said that, it's obvious that Radiohead as a band was strongly influenced by The Eraser and perhaps used a similar method while recording In Rainbows. They are fairly similar albeit less electronic. Either way, they drift in and out of a heady psychedelic rock and into their normal could-be soundtrack music. It's very eclectic and different. There was much speculation as to which album it would sound like and the answer is none of them. It has elements of many of them and I think it will only grow stronger with each listen. Kudos Thom and co.

The only thing wrong with it, of course, is its availability and packaging (or rather its lack thereof). I'm upset I can't get a hard copy or a VBR version (it's DRM-free 160kbps). But in early 2008 that's rumored to change.

Verdict: Buy a hard copy in 2008 but download it now from inrainbows.com

Band of Horses - Cease to Begin

For starters let me begin by saying that I love the first Band of Horses record. I love it. When I first got it I was really into My Morning Jacket so it was right up my alley. However, I found that it took me a while to really get into it. The same seemed to be true for the second one. The reverb is back, as are the almost whiny vocals and the hints of country. New to this record: organ, 50's pop, percussion (hand claps, tambourine, bells, etc).

Cease to Begin starts fabulously with "Is There a Ghost" which is just as good as any track on Everything All The Time (except maybe the blog star "The Funeral" or my two favorites "Weed Party" and "The Great Salt Lake").

From there, the album becomes a little more somber. It is not as energetic as the first one and may take a couple of listens to get into. On the first listen "No One's Gonna Love You" really caught my ear as well as the playful Beach Boys-esque "General Specific." I have found that I like the album very much. Every song has a little something to it that makes it memorable. However, in true BOH fashion, the vocal melodies don't exactly stick the first time through.

Are the songs better? Maybe. Maybe not. Is the album more consistent and better themed? Definitely. The loss of one of the founding members during the songwriting and early recording sessions may have at first seemed disastrous, but I like the way it turned out. Now a trio, Band of Horses is out touring in support of their new album.

The final verdict: big BOH fans will really like it, moderate BOH fans will appreciate it as background music. I bought a hard copy. Maybe you should too.

Radiohead!!

So it seems that Radiohead has finished their newest album. They announced just yesterday that the album was complete and that they were releasing it in...10 days. 10 days?! How? They are releasing it themselves online via their website.

There are two ways to score the upcoming record. One: buy the massive box set that will arrive to your doorstep for a mere $81 (shipped on or before Dec 3, 2007). It will include the two-disc CD, two heavy vinyl records, a lyric and artwork booklet, and a book of photography/artwork all wrapped up in a collector's box. Two: download the record straight from website. Cost? However much you want. £1 or $100. Apparently they intend on releasing a hard copy available in stores everywhere sometime in 2008 but haven't announced the label or distributor. Anyone running a label would be fool not to take a few less percentage points on the deal.

Many websites are claiming that this will completely revolutionize the model but I must disagree. Not many bands could pull this type of distribution off. Radiohead can, Tool could, Dave Matthews Band might be able to, along with Wilco, Bright Eyes, and Beck, but very few bands could. You have to consider the demographic of these bands: superfans. Only blog-savvy fans that are ravenous for new music will be aware of such a promotion. Radiohead will certainly be able to reach gold status using this method because they have such loyal fans, but changing the industry? I don't think so.

The people this is really hurting are the advertisers, non-technological people, and mom and pop stores. While I appreciate the whole marketing concept and 100% support mom and pop stores, this won't kill either one of them.

I applaud Yorke and company for having the cojones to pull such a stunt and am perched on the edge of my seat for the new record (praying it is better than Hail to the Thief). Stay tuned to Pitchfork and the Radiohead website in the coming week and make sure you buy (or just download for free straight from the website) the album on October 10th!