Diego's Debut

Maradona's official debut with the national team (qualifier with Venezuela) couldn't have been better. A dominating 4-0 thrashing of Venezuela by the albicelestes. Read about it here. Watch Diego's press conference here.

25 + years of Cool

Is there anybody who has kept their cool streak going as long as Morrissey? A couple of weeks ago, a friend wondered if he would be this cool at his age. In my opinion, he has succeeded where others have failed. Bono is cooler now than he was at the beginnings of U2, Mick Jagger isn't cool anymore, and Sting, well, I think he used to be cooler as well. But this is just an opinion. Decide for yourself while watching a Smiths video from 1987 and then Morrissey's appearance this week on the Jimmy Fallon show.

Then...

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before @ Yahoo! Video

and Now...(Morrissey appears near the 38:00 mark)

Sigur Ros Take-Away Show!! (and a couple of others)

Sigur Ros - Við spilum endalaust - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.


Bloc Party, 'This Modern Love' - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.


Fleet Foxes - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Fallon, Public Enemy and The Roots

I haven't watched a lot of the new Late Night with Jimmy Fallon but from what I've seen I'm really enjoying some of the things he brings to late night. The main thing being, The Roots as the shows band and of course, the many diverse musical guests. Earlier this week, Public Enemy played the show and it was fun for all.

The first video is one of the best things I've seen in awhile. I love it.

New Wave Noir

Beckie and I watched Francois Truffaut's classic Jules & Jim last weekend and immediately several things came to mind. The relationship between noir and French New Wave, the influence of noir on the New Wave, and the noir elements in the film. Catherine is the epitome of noir femme fatale. Men are attracted to her and when they get too close they can't return to where they were before and are lead to their demise. Jules and Jim are these characters. The morally ambiguous male without any obvious motivation except to be near the female. I won't ruin the end for you if you haven't seen the movie but I will say that the end is very noirish. Besides the femme fatale other themes appear in the work that make me contrast the two genres.

1. The self-conscious rejection of classic cinematic forms - Obvious in French New Wave, many noir classics portrayed a type of rejection of the classic happy ending.
2. The relationship between cinema and politics - The 60's of the French New Wave and the implicit political ideas of noir.
3. Radical experimenting with editing, style - The everything-goes attitude of New Wave with the stark colors and dramatic angles of noir.

Maybe these two genres are more similar than first thought.

White as Diamonds

Listening to Alela Diane's White as Diamonds transports me to a place and time I never knew. Her voice is soothing and hypnotic. Watch the video below and listen to her here.



Alela Diane - New Music - More Music Videos

Zizek or Zizek?

While browsing upcoming concerts in the SLC area, I came across Zizek in the list for one of our favorite venues, Kilby Court. Would Zizek really be lecturing at a small concert venue in Salt Lake city? I obviously had my doubts. But, who was this Zizek that would be playing next month at Kilby? After some research I found that this Zizek was not the theorist but instead, a group of DJ's from Buenos Aires that named themselves after the Slovenian theorist. They apparently do mash-ups of cumbia and electronica. Check out their website here. It's pretty psychedelic. Also, here's an article that explains who they are a little more clearly.

The question then becomes, what theorist or philosopher would you name your imaginary band after? The Heideggers? The Derridians?

Randy's Records

Beckie and I were in Salt Lake this weekend celebrating our anniversary. We stayed at the Little America, did some shopping, went to a piano-dueling club, and just had an overall good time. Whenever we go to SLC we make a stop at Randy's Records. One of the last surviving record stores in Utah. Dedicated almost entirely to vinyl, Randy's selection is excellent. In truth, I could probably spend a lot more money than I should there. I did find a couple of records on Saturday, Aretha Franklin's Spirit in the Dark (my favorite of hers) and The Swingin's Mutual with George Shearing and Nancy Wilson.

Spirit In The Dark - Aretha Franklin