Rebounding (in oh so many ways)

Things are in flux these days 'round the, well, let's call it the former Hall of Crammits*, in case you hadn't heard. We've called it quits as a couple, J and I; we're both a little heartbroken about it, but we're still on good terms so don't a) feel the need to give us that tilted-head-sotto-voce "how're you doing?", and b) worry about tiptoeing around us. We're doing fine. I think. (Booze helps.)

All of this came down as the new Death Cab for Cutie record, Narrow Stairs, was getting some heavy rotation around the house. As with most of their other albums, it's littered with breakup songs, like "You Can Do Better Than Me", and "Your New Twin Sized Bed" ("You look so defeated lying there...with a single pillow underneath your single head"). So needless to say, it's a tough one for either of us to listen to without getting upset. Thanks a lot, emo jerks.

Of course, it's also a pretty good record; I've liked most of theirs since my friend Cara introduced me to We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes back when. They've hit something of a plateau over the last couple - I doubt they'll ever improve on 2002's Transatlanticism - so this, like the last one, peters out really badly and contains a couple of outright duds. The single and heart of the record is the eight-minute "I Will Possess Your Heart", one of those creepy songs that will probably (like "Every Breath You Take" or "The One I Love") have the verse lyrics get ignored by thousands of dumbassed couples who prefer to latch on to a cursory reading of the refrain. (I guess it's good that they point themselves out like that.) The intro runs more than four and a half minutes before the first line is sung, and that's something I just adore; the way it feels like the song's nearly done before you realize that everything so far has just been preamble. (My old band Kepler had a song early on that did something similar, and it was long my favourite to play.)

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I don't know why Band of Horses aren't gigantic. Their second LP, Cease to Begin is one of those summery, good-time rock records that can catapult an otherwise average band into the world of stadiums and beer endorsements. It's a decent improvement over their first record, Everything All The Time, which lacked that hard-to-define but essential rock element, 'oomf.' This time around, the group sound like they've toured out this batch of songs, and found a balance between the often-delicate arrangements and the desire to bring the (southern) rock. Admittedly, I still don't always follow what they're singing about, but again, that's not what's going to bring them the hordes of fans. No, what's going to pull 'em in are the partyable rockers ("The General Specific", "Islands on the Coast") and the sensitive songs ("No One's Going to Love You"), both of which they manage ably. Their singer's voice, too, has improved; it's now reminiscient of Carl Newman's (Zumpano/New Pornographers) reedy, high-but-not-falsetto tone, instead of Jon Anderson (the horrible elf-dweeb from Yes). So that's been a daily listen for me the past month.

I'm also kind of taken with Born Ruffians' Red Yellow and Blue, which had been on the long list for this year's Polaris prize but didn't make the cut (more on that in a minute.) It's an odd record - there's songs that wouldn't sound out of place in a Swell Maps set, and others that remind me of Jonathan Richman's rougher material - and I'm not sure exactly what to make of it. But I suspect that, not unlike their Warp labelmates Grizzly Bear, it's a record that'll reward persistence.

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I like that the Polaris Prize exists. I have no idea if it's creating much of an effect on Canadian music, either in terms of sales or output, but at least for me it's an encouragement to look up homegrown groups that I might otherwise have never heard. (My friend JCarnie has clips from some of this year's nominees on her blog, for thems that want a sampling of Canada's newest hitmakers.)

The shortlist came out last week, and to win, I'm putting my theoretical money on Basia Bulat's staggeringly dull and charmless Oh! My Darling (given last years' winner, the equally uninteresting Patrick Watson). It's not a bad list, although a little predictable (it's all the hipster favourites!) but having seen the original pool of potential nominees, I'm disappointed with a couple of their omissions. As I said above, I think Born Ruffians should have been included, and I'd rather have Cadence Weapon and/or Thee Silver Mt. Zion instead of, for instance, Stars' unperforming In Our Bedroom After The War or Holy F*ck's good idea/lame execution dance machine. But I am pleased that the Wearkerthans' Reunion Tour and Black Mountain's In The Future are nominees; I'd be content with either of them, or even Caribou's Andorra taking the prize. But as I said above, I'm guessing I'll end up grumbling.

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I recently saw David Fincher's Zodiac, which was awfully long and had Cloë Sevigny. To be fair, despite its significant length (nearly 3 hours) I only looked at my watch a couple of times; and Cloë's part was mercifully small. The film is based on the true story of the Zodiac killer, who apparently terrorized the San Francisco area in the late 60's and early 70's before disappearing (he was never caught, and his identity remains, officially, unknown.) The focus is on a homicide detective (Mark Ruffalo) following the case over the years, and a San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhall) who becomes increasingly obsessed with the killer. Given the subject matter, there's little gore - given the fact that he only actually killed a half-dozen people, I guess that makes sense - and it's all over well within the first hour. There's also an entertaining performance by Robert Downey Jr., as the Chronicle's crime reporter, who slowly dissolves into a fierce alcoholism. Which, I know, is a huge stretch for him. Here's the thing, though: I usually have a major hate-on for Downey, and not only did I enjoy watching him in Zodiac, I found him terribly engaging in Iron Man. (Maybe I just don't like him clean-shaven.) Actually, I think the main difference between his younger roles and where he's at now is that he looks like he's having fun, and it's an infectious kind of glee.

The other notable thing I saw recently was Pixar's latest release, WALL-E. My feelings about it are pretty similar to what Phil Nugent wrote, although I did only tear up a bit (what with my metal heart and all). This now brings the number of films that have made me cry to five (for the record: Dancer in the Dark, Hotel Rwanda, When The Levees Broke and Ratatouille, also a Pixar joint.) There's very little dialogue, and none at all for the first half hour or so; and like with other Pixar films, there's very little pandering. No cutesy pop-culture references (although there are homages to 2001, a couple of clips from Hello, Dolly! and there's an air of "we just recently watched Silent Running" to the who thing), minor celebrity voice-casting, and not a single character who would qualify as 'sassy'. If I had kids (shudder), I'd make 'em watch WALL-E and tell them, "This is why you're not allowed to watch that Shrek trash."

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*So I guess that technically, this blog needs a new name. And anyone able to direct me to a one-bedroom in walking distance of downtown available for September 1st (under $950/mo.) is my new best friend.