It's nigh on pointless to keep doing these Currently in Rotation posts, being that -- as I've moaned laboriously elsewhere on this weblog -- I don't have bundles of time these days to read or go to the movies or whatever. Regardless, I'll plough onward….
TEXT: Haven't been able to read a damn thing.
FILM: I haven't been to a movie theatre in months.
DVD: The only DVD that's been darkening the inner chamber of our player these days involves Elmo, I'm truly sorry to say.
WEBSITE: Instead ot linking you directly to the site in question, I'd prefer it if you read my excellent colleague, James Montgomery's story about it first: The Cult Of 'Last Christmas': Wham! Chestnut Spawns Covers, Web Site
TELEVISION SHOW: Keep your precious "C.S.I."s and "The Closer"'s,…`cos if you missed "Prime Suspect 7: the Final Act," you missed out, buddy. Helen Mirren rocks way harder than your favorite band Full stop!
QUOTE: "If the shoe fits --- kick someone with it!" -- Timothy Raycroft
MUSIC: Okay, music is the one area wherein I've been dabbling, although said dabbling invariably only involves my walks to and from work. In any event, here are a couple of discs that have been sucking the juice out of my iPod this month:
First up the brand new record by…umm.. Brand New. If you'd suggested to me a year ago that I'd ever be citing anything by this band as something I'd ever consciously espouse, I'd probably have poured a pint of beer on your shoes and told you to go suck a sock. But hey -- this record's actually mighty fine. Despite having been made by an otherwise cloyingly whiney emo band from Long Island, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is actually comparitively restrained for its genre. There are still moments of vein-popping, lung-straining apoplexy, but they are utilized judiciously. Several folks at The Job have been zealously crowing "RECORD OF THE YEAR" anytime its name is invoked (including my colleague, Jane, whose taste is admirably discriminating, despite a lamentable appreciation for the shrill, mawkish sea-cow that is Mary J. Blige, but I digress). I don’t know if I'd bestow that sort've honor on it, but several songs on it -- notably the opening salvo, "Sowing Season (Yeah)" with its avalanche of spiraling guitars - rock mightily. Plus, it boasts some wicked creepy cover art, and who doesn't love that?
Next up is the eponymous debut e.p. by the Horrors. Yeah, I know I initially derided them for being entirely bereft of originality (which remains an accurate call), but this disc is infectiously shambollic. I especially enjoy their cover of Screaming Lord Sutch's "Jack the Ripper" (notably for their vociferous pronunciation of the word "rippah"). I've also heard that as a live act, they are somewhat "trainwrecky." I'd love to see that. In any case, while their forthcoming full L.P. will probably be only half-listenable, this small clutch of tracks is fairly entertaining.
SHIT THAT'S PISSING ME OFF THIS MONTH: The gents who staff the deli near my office must assume that I'm from New Zealand and have an impenetrable Kiwi accent or something, as they insist on hearing my clear and accurate pronunciation of the word "WHITE" as "WHEAT". As such, I am regularly treated to the displeasing surprise of finding sandwichs I've procured at said establishment prepared on a variety of bread that I did not order and that I wouldn't feed to a famished duck (suffice it to say, I postively loathe wheat bread). It's becoming somewhat of a trend, and I'm finding it most upsetting.
OLD TIMEY VIDEO CLIP OF THE MONTH: Ah, an oldie but a goodie. I first saw this video courtesy of a compilation videotape called A Mouthful of Sweat which featured bands like Unrest, Galaxie 500 and Daniel Johnston. I prized it off eBay and watched this clip slavishly. Finding clips by Cop $hoot Cop can be mighty tough (though you can find the videos for "Interference" and "Any Day Now" over at The Job). In any event, someone of obvious taste and distinction has uploaded this to YouTube, so I'm taking the opportunity to sing its myriad, malevolent praises. Herewith "Shine On Elizabeth," from the fabled Piece Man e.p. (splattered in "real pig's blood").
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