The Skunkeye Consumer Guide

Happy New Year!

(Skunkeye- looking louche as always - & The Bride, November 2004)

In wrapping up the year I realize I’m not much of a “Top Ten” list kind of guy. In fact, for a long time, I used to attribute such lists in periodicals to year-end editorial laziness. Having since been tasked to compose such copy for magazines I know now its more difficult than it might seem – its sometimes, if you feel such a personal connection to art, music, and film as I do, like ranking one’s children according to preference, often arbitrarily. Its so much easier to point out the lemons but I try my very best to be positive here. At any rate, you can easily read about my highs and lows and picks and misses of 2004 by a cursory look at this past year’s archives on this site. I mean, I haven’t posted that much!

Sometimes life gets crazy and busy for me and more often than not I can’t summon the inspiration or motivation to post, so I’ve had a few things on the back burner that I’d wanted to write about but never got around to. I would say I’ve got a list but I don’t keep those. With the holidays and running around at work covering the terrible situation in Aceh, Thailand, and South Asia, I’m busier than ever I guess but I’ll make an effort to dig into my memory banks and try to summon whatever it was I’d been meaning but neglecting to post about all this time.

But that might be too much work…
so instead right now I’ll take the time to highlight my three Guilty Pleasures of 2004, albums which have been in constant circulation on my machine all year.

Feist’s debut Let It Die has got to be one of the most all-around satisfying albums ever! This is going to drop and be marketed in US in March and it will hit hard so I might as well put my two bits in before I grow tired of hearing it in every trendy restaurant and coffee shop. It has been yet another amazing year for Canadian pop musicians and Calgary native, now Paris transplant, Leslie Feist might well be the latest great hope from the great white north to take off! Spare me Avril and Celine any time. Yikes one her songs has already been incorporated into a "classic" high school dance scene on The OC! I’ve put off writing about this release because I didn’t think I could find the words to do it justice. And I don’t think I can right now but, in short, Let it Die is a collaboration with Peaches cohort Gonzales who turns out to be a soulful, sensitive and gifted arranger (who knew?). Ms. Feist has an achingly warm and assured voice. The material ranges from the bump and grind of a cover of the Bee Gees’ “Inside & Out” to a stunning, crystalline treatment of Ron Sexmith’s “Secret Heart,” and, in addition to stellar original compositions, as illustrated by a choice interpretation of Francois Hardy’s “L’amour ne Dure pas Toujours,” the overall vibe is one ripe and fine European vacance. I’ve recommended this purchase to a ton of folk and no one has been disappointed or taken this disc out of their player since. Essential listening!

Talk about beautiful, Mara Carlyle’s solo debut, The Lovely, is just about the most exquisite thing in my possession right now. Lets start with the packaging. As with all of the Matthew Herbert helmed Accidental releases, the design is gorgeous and thoughtful; The Lovely is wrapped in a linen sleeve and contains a sumptuous folio of black & white flower prints on Japanese rice paper. Lovingly produced by long-time collaborators Plaid, The Lovely is the perfect and natural companion to Feist’s Let it Die, although somewhat more earthy and ethereal. You can find it in the Electronica bin but obvious points of reference include: Nico, Sandy Denny, Goldfrapp, Julee Cruise, and another one of this year’s faves, Dani Siciliano. The material is wide-ranging, all self-penned by Carlyle and featuring her myriad talents with eclectic instruments, jazz and folk influenced, and decidedly torchy. Pure rapture.

The third of this years’ guilty pleasures is Anniemal, the infectious gem of a pop album from Norway's Annie, which has been widely heralded on the internets and is probably already being played in the clubs if I even ever bothered to go out these days. I think this is the kind of party disc Gwen Stefani was aiming for with her solo effort but maybe got mussed up with too many guest producers and musicians. “Chewing Gum” has to be the single of the year, showcasing the catchiest hook since the Tom Tom Club got overly sampled in the early nineties. The production values are way, way top-rate. I have a certain weakness for shameless europop but one can’t categorize Anniemal as just that. Its way too strong and there is an odd air of urgent poignancy to the effort (Annie recently experienced a great loss to whom the album is dedicated). I dunno when this is going to officially be released in the US but I’ve been grooving on this for the better part of 2004! Bring out the Anniemal inside of you! Absolutely delightful.

Other 2004 albums “I’ve loved, but forgot to mention” – and are all well worth checking out - include: Cerys Matthews, Cockahoop; the new-wave bossa nova treat Nouvelle Vague; Allison Moorer, The Duel; Keren Ann, Not Going Anywhere; Junior Boys, Last Exit; Devotchka, How It Ends; a new release from ol’ classmates The Walkmen; and that fantastic The Arcade Fire debut. Oh, and Nancy Sinatra's nuevo virtual greatest hits album. Yikes I know I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff.

I’ve read barely any books this year. But perused unfathomable amounts of web material and tons of magazines. Doesn’t that just suck? Sad commentary.

I’ve lead a fairly nomadic life – and, believe me, after four years in DC, I’m itching for another move – but at the core, the glue that has always kept things together has been my family. I’m eternally thankful that my grandmother is still with us after all that she went through these past two years and doing very well, adjusting amazingly to a new living situation, and bringing us tremendous joy as always. This year also brought the permanent return to the US of my parents. In November, with my sister’s wonderful wedding, I was able to reconnect and celebrate, albeit rushed and in the frenzy of needy guests, with friends and family from the various periods in my life - for which I am very grateful. Circumstance, crisis, chance encounters, and, yes, even, Googling, have enabled old friends to re-enter my life as well this year. Since returning to the US, I’ve been a decidedly independent, solitary, selfish kind of guy most of the time, but the departure of a very close friend has opened my eyes to the notion that maybe I should start branching out a bit more again and make some fresh connections.

Site-wise, I’ve been meaning to revamp, but the outdated equipment I have at home and work and my lack of technical prowess makes this a cumbersome task. It’s a challenge even to post sometimes! Besides, I’ve grown comfortable with the clunky design. The other day I realized that the color palette echoes the Philippines flag – it was never intentional – and that somehow makes me happy and feels appropriate. And I’ve grown accustomed to Anna Karina’s face (and pointedly-pregnant scissors) in the upper-right-hand corner! However, in January, when I’m house sitting Uptown while the Folks are on their Asia sojourn and looking after The Kid and have access to the new turbo laptop, that might all just change… maybe get inspired. Makeover!

(I scanned this shocking photo from ten years back for a friend this week)

I don’t “do” resolutions but it has been coming harshly to my attention that I need to take dramatic and dedicated steps to take better care of myself physically. I’ve been paying my gym fees all along but can’t seem to take the first step of the walk of shame back into the place. However, I do know, once I get started up and into the routine, I’ll be hooked again. Old habits die hard, but I’m quick to take on new addictions and hopefully a healthy lifestyle and lots of gym will be one of them. My god the wedding photos of me were scary, I’ve become this carbo-fleshy monster – one bloated toad! I used to take it for granted that I would have good skin and full head of hair but even that’s been failing me! Essie saw a barely ten-year old photo of me the other day and she was genuinely and visibly in shock – she said I looked like “Phil Donahue or whatshisname from the beach party movies.” Yikes, I think she meant Troy, and maybe that’s just how all young white boys with a full head of tawny blondish locks look like to black people, but it goes to show illustrating the sad reality of young man coming face-to-face with his thirties. Yo kids never take it for granted – my mother was right when she told me I was ruining my looks through hard living and excess!

Ay, getting to be bitch session here! And more confessional and revealing than my comfort zone will allow.
I’ll stop here. Plus I’m hosting a brunch tomorrow/today and need to be fresh.
All in all, I think I had a great 2004!
Oh, and a big “Salut!” to the Copains on the sidebar! I dig you all!
A brilliant 2005 everyone!

Maligayang Pasko!

Skunkeye’s holidays were low-key and pleasant. My folks are back in the area so I didn't go nowhere out of town. From all accounts I’m glad I wasn’t stranded at an airport or stuck in a snowstorm (although the monsoon hit me as I was leaving work Thursday and I was soaked to the bone!)

I always forget what a ghost town the city becomes on Christmas weekend. Yesterday when I got back to the hood I went for a stroll and the only people who were out and about seemed to be me and the crazies (not entirely mutually exclusive, mind you). One of the few people I ran into offered to sell me a "button blade"…
which would all be quite depressing except that the holidays were very nice and I was actually eager to escape the family for a bit ("Ummm, the wedding is
long over can we stop talking about how wonderful it was okay…??").

They are all at The Beach House for the week and I wish I could be there (if anything to catch up on my reading - received quite a few good books this year including the latest from Paul Theroux and the new Isamu Noguchi biography), but I have to work and can't take time off at the moment. Christ, its cold right now!

I’m so spoiled - received from my parents a handsome and huge antique Korean chest and a beautiful signed Anita Magsaysay Ho (for those of you not in the know she's been declared a Philippines National Living Treasure and her work has sold for record prices at the auctions, in addition to being the mother of a very dear friend). My uncle gave me a cool hand-painted "coiffure" sign to add to my collection.

The family also had a nice visit with my grandmother at The Home. She was in very good spirits and enjoyed the company and the gifts. In addition to a ton of books (complete David Sedaris, Patricia Highsmith bio), I gave her a book stand so she can read hard-bound materials again.

I quite enjoyed A Very Long Engagement. Its not for everyone, especially those English Patient/Amelie-phobes but really the film is so epic and far-ranging in scale and genre - there's something for everyone. Very beautiful use of CGI. I also saw Spanglish- what the
hell was that!!!! I've always liked Tea Leoni and was curious to see how Paz Vega worked out in her first American feature so I paid my $6.75 matinee despite terrible reviews. The acting was good although I do feel Vega, for all her charms and Natalie Wood-like beauty, was miscast as the domestic pure of soul. I mean… Sex & Lucia?… and they gave her a spray-on tan so she'd look more ethnic- god, that movie was just off-putting in every imaginable way! I'm not going to bother looking up the writing credits but Spanglish was such a mish-mash - sometimes it was seemed to be trying to be Imitation of Life, at other points it was rehashing sitcom formulas or a coming-of-age melodrama or biting social commentary, and ultimately the audience loses sympathy with any of the characters - they all are just that awful! Some weird kaka going on with James L. Brooks!

My spirits are very low about the terrible situation in South and Southeast Asia right now in the aftermath of the calamity. I've experienced massive earthquakes and volcanoes while living in that region but nothing compares to this and it is a terrible reminder of how volatile and unpredictably destuctive the elements are on the Pacific Rim. I can't even bring myself to watch the footage on television. Devastating. We have several stringers in Aceh – a region that is way messed up to begin with - that we can't reach and I pray none of my friends were vacationing in Phuket for the Christmas holidays (which is a popular activity). My heart goes out to those many tens of thousands who are lost and the millions who are suffering right now.

Ay, I’m just going to kick back and enjoy some Pasko music, the best holiday tunes ever, make you cry and feel joy at the same time!

Here is the image that I wanted to head this entry with – a true classic - but my brokedown jeepney of a laptop ain’t cooperating… sayang.

Also, please congratulate my pare Torn & Frayed on a first year of excellent work (oops, I thought it was his one-year anniversary - actually its his birthday...ed.)and make sure, dibah, you take the moment to vote for his site in this years’ Asia Blog Awards!

Tom Wesselmann 1931 - 2004

Guess I was too busy with the holidays to take note that a long time fave, Tom Wesselmann, passed away earlier last week.  Best known for his contempoary take on the reclining nude, he was also one of the most “post-modern” of the pop art scene , including iconic works by Warhol and artist contemporaries in his “still-lifes.”

New York Times appreciation here.

Saturday’s big party at Casa Skunkeye went by swimmingly and everyone, including myself, had a fantastic time! I was a bit concerned about crowd control – man, those Evite guest lists procreate and expand like rabbits – and keeping food and drink stocked but we did just fine. In fact I have an embarrassment of riches left over – sangria, tortillas chips, pastries, salsas, mixers, and exotic liquors – none which I have any desire or use for at any foreseeable point in the future.

The “evening” stretched until 6 am actually and I’m happy to say the festivities occurred without embarrassing incident – just a lot of laughter and good cheer and an outpouring of love for my Mexico-bound guest of honor. The guests were a wonderful bunch - an international crowd of outgoing Foreign Service officers, dear friends, journalists, family, and neighbors. The house looked good and there was great flow and all the attendees looked hot! I have digital photos perhaps to share once I can figure out how to coordinate the camera and the computer.

Its been a while since I’ve entertained on that scale and fortunately I gave myself ample preparation time – the drawback, between the party and all the wedding stuff, is I’m now scrambling to get everything prepared for Christmas (I normally have all my holiday shopping done by Thanksgiving!). And I’ve totally shot my wad budget/cash/credit-wise this year; but it has all been worth it.

I’ve noticed distinct phases when planning and throwing big events. There’s that extended period of running off of adrenaline to pull everything off. Then comes the actual celebration - that of course goes by in a heartbeat and a flash and a whirl. The morning after, cleaning up, there is a certain “empty-nest” feeling. Tack on another spirited event or two or five the following days and evenings – this is a crazy busy time of year - and all of a sudden one is spent and beat and doesn’t want to even look at another party again for a long time. Coming home tonight from work I was loathe to even turn on the holiday lights – I’m ready to get this holiday stuff over with and move on!

Agnes Martin 1912 – 2004

You need to see her work up close to experience the sublime beauty and complexity of her art; I know the Hirshhorn and The National Gallery currently have selections from their Agnes Martin collections on display. Looking at her work, I always imagined the artist to be serene and sage-like – and Agnes Martin was notoriously reclusive - I was surprised a couple of years ago watching a rare documentary portrait of her that she was actually feisty, scrappy, a robust drinker, viciously witty, and a speed demon on the road!  What an amazing and prolific and long career – she will be missed!

New York Times appreciation here.

We are experiencing a crisis of epic proportions at the Family House!  The tree is up, the lights are strung and we survived that without any tears but apparently the Christmas decorations did not get shipped to the US from Korea and are MIA- and we're talking loads and loads of boxes of ornaments and stuff, many have been in the family for generations.  Tense, very tense here, and all I can say is FEAR.

Also, the official wedding photos are here and everyone is fawning over them.  Yikes, I'm Mister Carb Face - its just not fair that this is happening to me!

Papa Noel came down the chimney early at Chez Skunkeye! I’ve been digging Jean-Louis Murat’s latest, A Bird On a Poire, a collaboration with The Elysian Field’s Jennifer Charles and guitarist Fred Jimenez, and also out of the blue, a solid new offering from Françoise Hardy, Tant de Belles Choses.

Papa Noel also arrived last night in the form of party guests who had their dates mixed up and arrived a week early last night! I was in the midst of decorating – painting a huge Day of the Dead Santa Claus to be exact – and was caught by surprise and wasn’t prepared for company but it was nice to have visitors all the same. Ay, these holidays are so festive!

The title of JL Murat’s latest project, A Bird on a Poire, suggests Leonard Cohen style melancholy but actually the album is a tremendously buoyant affair. Namely because of Jennifer Charles’ involvement I was highly anticipating this album and went through hell and high water and great cost to get my hands on it (I will spare you the details)! That said, I was not disappointed, and A Bird on a Poire quickly qualifies as one this year’s must-have albums! The spirit of late sixties Anglo-Gallic pop lovingly permeates this project and this is a truly enjoyable road trip! The collaborators clearly had fun putting this together and we get to hear a lighter, more playful Jennifer Charles – her “Monsieur Craindait les Demoiselles” is brilliant and beautiful and evokes Jane Birkin and Françoise Hardy of a certain era. Points of reference for this playful affair include Serge Gainsbourg, Jules et Jim, Georges Moustaki, Ye-Ye, Phil Spector, Petula Clark, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys. I guess the overall feel is like a French counterpart to a Jon Brion (Aimee Mann, Magnolia, Eternal Sunshine, Fiona Apple, etc) production. There is not a miss on this electrifying album – satisfaction guaranteed. Essential for those of us longing for a European vacation but can’t afford it and better yet the ultimate soundtrack for a certain kind of escapist when time-traveling is not an option. And I noticed Tower just stocked a few copies this week in the Import section so you don’t have to through an international logistical nightmare to procure it like I did.

I’m a Françoise Hardy completist and despite being disappointed somewhat by recent efforts to capitalize on her vogue quotient – too many "hip" producers - Air, Bernard Butler, Malcolm McLaren, etc and a lack of direction/vision lend to murky efforts - I nonetheless grab anything new that she is attached to. Tout de Belles Choses is perhaps Hardy’s most solid release in, um, twenty years. Perhaps its because she’s working with her son, Thomas Dutronc, the product of her fabulous union with Jacques Dutronc, and it appears he has her best interests at heart. Unlike most of her contemporaries, Hardy is a gifted and respected songwriter and while delivering a good cover – she’s particularly a natural with the Everly Brothers songbook - also presented spellbinding self-penned material. And through the years she continues to possess a warm, assured voice.

Not that this effort doesn’t have its meandering moments and indulges on occasion Hardy’s jazz balladry leanings (“Grand Motel”) – the Rod Stewart Syndrome I call it. But overall this is a return to form of the Françoise Hardy that is only right and natural. Benjamin Biolay contributes a track but its kind of middlin'. The compositions and the production would not be out of place on her melancholy, trippy tours de force La Question and Comment Te Dire Adieu. This is a classy act indeed and a welcome re-invention – the lady proves herself still vital. And it holds itself very well in the face of recent efforts from obvious progeny Keren Ann, Françoise Breut, and Autour De Lucie. Timeless and bittersweet and good for those clichéd rainy day afternoons.

Hells Bells my shack is a mess and I got a party to organize!

I’m being such a dork this weekend, whipping myself into a frenzy about how to decorate Chez Skunkeye. Should I go festive or understated? I normally wouldn’t be bothered, and actually haven’t decorated the house for the holidays in a few years. However, I am hosting a big party/despidida next Saturday and it dawned on me earlier this week that I probably should make some effort to put up some Holiday trimmings. I’m leaning towards the more modest look but the event is for a friend who is about to be posted in Mexico. Since most of my trimmings are going to be my mother’s rejects from her MASSIVE collection (doing decorating tree duty at the family residence tomorrow) and it will all be invariably a mishmash - should Barrio Fiesta be the theme? I'm hardly coordinated enough at this point to be tasteful anyways.

Speaking of parties, The Ladies and I won a small battle with The Man this week when it was officailly decided that we will not be having a Holiday Party this year. Its too late in the game to organize and plus I goddamn hate the thing. Ostensibly its supposed to be a celebration just for our services with some extra guests (the folks from Mahogany Row the Man wants to blow), but this party is legendary and once the scent of Asian food wafts through the halls and vents – the whole building shows up. Fucking feeding frenzy. Lined up down the corridor. No fun at all. At any rate, the Ladies took a stand and it has been a relief to me since I always have to do the grunt work running around getting all that chow through security and setting up and coordinating all that shit.

So after some deliberation I decided on the Barrio Fiesta theme for Casa Skunkeye. I hauled up to my former hood, Mt. Pleasant, for thrift design solutions and inspiration. I found neither but I’m pleased to say the parts –the fruits of a productive and inspired afternoon - of a life sized Day of the Dead “Santa” that I painted this afternoon are drying and waiting to be assembled.
Feliz Navidad!

My weekend was fantastico!

I've had a dear friend in town doing consultations en route to a plum and well-deserved gig in Indonesia. Its been a lovely trip down memory lane - we were together during a particularly - in retrospect - golden period in Manila. We've spent a lot of time catching up, remembering friends, and discussing our expatriate experiences. I've long come to the understanding that I am more comfortable abroad - I've always felt like a foreigner in the periods when I have been in the US. At least overseas it feels right & natural and expected to feel that way. Plus life is so much more interesting -we were lamenting many things about life in the US, especially the lack of a certain kind of culturally rich and diverse of kind of café culture we experienced in other world cities. There were always a multitude of wonderful things going on - often in the course of one evening - friends were opening art shows, restaurants, nightclubs, boutiques and giving performances all the time and one couldn't go anywhere without running into people you knew and loved. Actually, I'm not sure I'd have the stamina for it at this point in my life. Ah well, absence makes the heart grow fonder?

I'm having a great time showing her around DC. I'm sick to death of this place but somehow introducing the city to an out-of-towner puts things in a fresher perspective. After a delicious congee brunch in Chinatown, we did go to Artomatic and had a really good time without being too mean-spirited and catty. I'd forgotten how good the glass work is. (I actually am not into glass art because its just so fucking fragile!). The venue, the former Capitol Children's Museum, is an improvement over the last effort. What are they going to do with the space after they close down Artomatic? The map made absolutely no sense and I could've done without the installation art. Dang, it seems like a lot of the artists have some real issues?  Identity politics can be so tedious! That mess is going to be hell to clean up. Maybe they'll gut it and turn the building into overpriced condos?... disorientating layout, I like the vault-like performing space.

I've been taking care of my deranged but loving pup while my folks are in NYC for a few days. The Kid doesn't do well and gets rattled at Chez Skunkeye and I don't want a lawsuit (canine Tourette's syndrome - he snaps), so we've been staying at the family abode Uptown. When I got home from work tonight he had wet shat messily all over the formal drawing room oreintal rug (even though he has been rejecting most of his food since Saturday) .

And The Kid was noticeably limping as he came downstirs to greet me.  He is not old even in dog years but has broken his leg and hip multiple times so of course I was freaking out.  The Fluff didn't seem to be in pain and clearly wanted to go our for a walk more than anything in the entire universe so I met his demands on the condition I wouldn't have him walk down the front stairs and over hills or anything.  The hobble kind of subsided by the time we got back and after a few frantic phone calls I learned that sometimes he gets gimpy after sleeping all day.  And I had a great time scrubbing up shit lemme tell ya.

The biggest perk, besides bonding with my dog - and after four years away from a piano, discovering that all is not lost and I can still play - of staying at the Family Residence is that somehow the folks got tricked into signing up for digital cable when they came back (I assume its a case of being swayed at a helpless moment by a marketing ruse: they have pretty simple TV needs so I can't imagine why they chose to pay extra. We didn't even have basic cable when I was living there!). I love it!

Man, if I had digital at home I'd rarely leave the house - BBC America, a zillion HBO, Showtime channels and multiple IFC and Sundance - heaven! At any given time there's several independent or foreign films showing on TV. 

Actually, yesterday I didn't really leave the house (except to take the restless Kid out at the crack of dawn) until about 2 PM.  My old room is so cold, and the blankets were so comforting, and I had my McKinley to all snuggle with, and as I was rousing for work I determined I may well be falling ill.  So, I called in and watched digital cable all morning!  I'm telling ya, its dangerous! Highlights include: revisited viewings of the delightful Bread & Tulips (Bruno Ganz is the man!); an Atom Egoyan protegee's much-overlooked The Five Senses (its easy to get distacted by the film's overpowering interior decor sensibilities - I mean hell all these characters regardless of class and income seemed to living in Wallpaper* - Man, I wanna be depressed stylishly in Montreal! There are some nuanced performances - Mary Louise Parker admirers take note - and the themes provide for ample post-viewing musings); on the Soap channel, vintage Another World (how ironic, I used to cut school to watch that!); my guilty pleasure BBC DIY fare and also that new show about improving property for investment and resale (my god I thought DC was horrible - they are just as frenzied about the housing market in the UK.  Yikes I am so priced outta everything in life)...

And I did enjoy The Life & Death of Peter Sellers on HBO - it was quality show as far as made-for-tv biopics go, and the acting was very good- especially Geoffry Rush and Emily Watson. Charlize Theron seemed to have fun as Brit Ekland. (The queen of Starfuckers! Remember her in the Rod "Stomach Pump" Stewart "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" video? And she later married a Stray Cat! Her daughter with Peter Sellers, Victoria, was a pal of Heidi Fleiss and there was talk that she was a prostitute.) Miriam Margolyes made a frightening stage mother - these things always seem to involve overbearing stage mother characters. Oh, and the kid playing Sellers' son was excellent.

At any rate, I grew up on a steady diet of Sellers - I'm a huge devotee - and I think all the folk involved put forth a solid, entertaining effort.

Saint Etienne's brilliant dancehall/dub-inflected cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," with vocals by Moira Lambert, blew my mind and was on my heavy rotation list when it first came it out. Ultimately I've come to admire the band more for their concept, art direction and points of reference rather than their actual material. Permanent lead singer Sarah Cracknell's vocal style has always been a bit too twee for my tastes I guess. And the band is so doggedly "British" - every day seems to be a wistful, rainy afternoon - let's just say I have to be in a certain mood to dig St. Etienne. They are usually not my "cup of tea," so to speak. But I do recommend their 15 year (yikes!) career survey, Travel Edition 1990 - 2005, out now on Sub Pop, which includes most of the band's more stand-out work.

However, an absolute must-have is the recently released The Trip created by Saint Etienne! This double CD, the latest in The Trip series (previous collaborators include Dirty Vegas, The Snow Patrol, and Tim Love Lee), is lovingly curated by St. Etienne's Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs and is the best, most essential compilation I've picked up in a while. From what I understand, Stanley and Wiggs were given free access to the massive Universal archive and also were able to pull junk-shop rarities from their own eclectic collection for the project. In their words, the end product is "a few familiar names, the odd TV theme, a barrel load of riches." Oh, it is that and so much more… this is one super-satisfying journey.

This is Saint Etienne cut-to-the-chase, where we get to enjoy their influences in an unadulterated form. Instead of hearing the band attempt to recreate or approximate the sounds that they love so much, we get to experience the original sources - and the way the various tracks on The Trip are mixed illuminate Saint Etienne's creative process. I'm feeling some serious rediscovered respect for the band here! And without Ms. Sarah - no weak vocals! This is an adventure steeped in late sixties/mid-seventies nostalgia. Their trademark snippets of vintage TV and film dialogue punctuate the cuts of course. Yet it sounds so fresh! This is genius.

Disc One focuses on Motown, garage rock, funk, film soundtrack instrumentals and psychedelia. Its really the ultimate party pleaser and will be in heavy rotation on the 18th for my big bash for MJ! It opens with Serge Gainsbourg's acid rock theme to the forgettable Jane Birkin vehicle Cannabis and blasts off in boogie mode from there. My personal new theme song is "Last Night Changed it All" by Esther Williams - we've been playing it in the office to get a buoyant kick start to the weekend! Other highlights include Marvin Gaye's little known "Symphony (Undubbed Version), the wonderful "My Love is Your Love (Forever)" from the Isley Brothers, and vintage club classics and rarities from Lalo Schifrin, R.P.M. Generation, T.U.M.E., and Kiss Inc.

Actually, Disc One of The Trip brings back fond memories of sneaking into the dark and roach infested movie theater/club room at the "old" Sanno in Tokyo (back when it was a truly dodgy military R & R facility). Of course there was the thrill of watching the forbidden fare - mostly consisting of kung-fu, blaxploitation, and other "adult stuff" I could not possibly begin to understand at such a young age. But the funky music they played before and between the shows - my god I can still savor my Grape Fanta! None of you could possibly relate to that but I just wanted to share. Makes me want to dig out my childhood roller disco skates!

Disc Two slips comfortably into a slightly mellower groove - soft rock, chamber pop, psychedelia-tinged folk - and promises to be a fine companion to the day after a night of exuberant partying. You know, cleaning up, drinking coffee, getting your body chemistry back together - and that mood which is a fine balance between melancholy and bliss. Highlights include choice cuts from The Sandpipers, Spanky & Our Gang, The Poppy Family, Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends, Fairport Convention, Dusty Springfield, The Left Banke, Scott Walker, Tim Hardin,
and Julie Covington. My favorites are these two obscure gems: "Ice" by Iceman and "The Happiest Day of My Life" from Queen Anne's Lace.

Don't be discouraged by the generic cover art and the somewhat hefty price tag, The Trip created by Saint Etienne is well worth the investment - the ticket cost - many times over! You're not going to be able to find most of these fantastic tracks anywhere else and certainly not assembled together like this!

By the way, Typepad has been KILLING me lately - this entry has been a nightmare to post!

After some procrastination, I’m debating whether to brave Artomatic tonight or muddy my weekend with the experience. I hate play Devil’s Advocate (you know I can’t help but be a putz), but I’m inclined to sympathize with Blake Gopnik on this one. Sorry!

Let me backtrack by saying several years ago I was so excited to return to the US to discover that the first Artomatic was about to open up the street from my folk’s house in the long-vacant Tenleytown Sears building! I was pleased by the notion that the DC area art community had been going through some sort of revitalization while I was gone and looked forward to being a part of it somehow. The first Artomatic, was of course, a sprawling mixed bag, but it was exciting to see that there was a collective effort to give staid DC a kick in the pants!

Ultimately, the uneven, to say the least, quality of the work – not to mention the quantity - began to grate on me. I actually started getting a little depressed by it all. Actually, it was worse, like Dario Argento’s La Sindrome di Stendhal had come to life! Not that all of the work was unappealing, but the impressive work was overwhelmed by the lightweight material, and the haphazard and jumbled installation of the entries made it really difficult to find the diamonds in the rough. This was re-confirmed and compounded by the subsequent Artomatic, mounted in the abandoned offices of what I consider of one the most single-most doomy and depressing complexes in the District, the Waterside Mall.

Housed in a venue so bleak - we're talking something along the lines of post disaster Chernobyl - how can one not come away from Artomatic and not feel icky?

Plus, in the spirit of being "provocative," I suppose, much of the artwork is purposely created to disturb the viewer. (Perhaps a fatal repercussion of the PC-button pushing nineties art scene is that somehow many aspiring artists have the notion that their work, regardless of skill or quality of execution, has to be "edgy" in order to relevant or considered legitimate "Art.") It would be one thing if this were a group show of "outsider" or "prison" art, but in the case of Artomatic; this is the collective fruit of the presumably educated folk who ride the Metro to work every day. Yikes – the lunatics ARE taking over the asylum!

Thre are aspects of Artomatic that remind me of Trading Spaces when Doug or Frank or even worse – Kia! - splatters cheap acrylic paint on fiberboard and declare it "art work," fit for a place of honor in the unwitting participants’ revamped living rooms and boudoirs. Ah, a cultural decay spreads across America… There’s not much in Artomatic that I could cohabitate comfortably with either – but that’s just me.

I know I’m being unfairly harsh on Artomatic. And I hate to dismiss v. 2004 site unseen (but I’m pretty sure I know what I’m up for). Look, its great to see so many folk getting creative. Judging from the content of a lot of the work these proactive creators could be doing worse things in society! At least they are being productive and are getting their juices out! And I admire what must be a massive effort on behalf of the organizers. The event could just use some editing is all. Or maybe an actual curator.

Also, there is always work that is impressive and by artists who I really respect. I won’t list them here – but there is a group of usual suspects who always manage to shine. An excellent resource is the awesome DC Art News site, which has been posting various Artomatic "Top Ten Lists" (which I’m inclined to more or less agree with) from a multitude of DC art world players, as well as reviews and coverage of the ongoing and very heated debate. Also, check out Missy for documentation of her recent visit.

Like it or not, Artomatic has become sort of a tradition in DC and I feel a certain obligation (though absolutely no curiosity at his point) to check it out. And I do always get something out of it! I’m going to try my best to be armed with a sense of humor and all the tolerance and open-mindedness I can muster when I go. I’ll try to forget that I’m a miserable, aging elitist for a moment.

I've been enjoying the La Mala Educatión soundtrack which I picked up earlier this week. The film hasn't opened in DC yet; suffice to say I'm absolutely looking forward to it. There's nothing like the promise of a Pedro Almodóvar film around the corner to make one realize life ain't so mala after all!

I've only got a cursory comprehension of what the film is about, but I can get a fairly good idea from longtime (well, at least since the mid-nineties' melodrama Flower of My Secret) Almadóvar collaborator/ composer Alberto Iglesias's orchestration. Echoes of the late Bernard Herrmann's score for Hitchcock's Vertigo are bring heightened, soaring, and rather uneasy a film-noir feel to the score. This is definitely a darker, more baroque affair than precious efforts –those who swooned to the tropical night plaint of Caetano Veloso's "Cucurrucucu Paloma" in Talk to Her might be gasping for air a bit.

To hear the Cor Vivaldi-Ipsi-Petits Cantors de Catalunya (a boys' choir) soaringly sing Rossini's "Kyrie" is a at once portentous, stirring, and beautiful, and a haunting "Moon River," performed by what sounds like a castratti (but mostly not likely- do they still do that?), indicate audiences are apt to deal with some sober, tragic stuff with Almodóvar's latest. Then again, a camped-up "Quizás, Quizás, Quizás" (best known in America interpreted by Doris Day as "Perhaps,...,…" and in the UK as the opening theme to "Coupling"), and Little Tony's "Cuore Matto" – which I sadly admit I used to listen to all the time when I was studying Italian - there's still some over-the-top fun to be had.

Also on the foreign soundtrack front, the other week I received Clara et Moi, the latest offering from young maestro Benjamin Biolay. The film hasn't been released in the US but apparently it has been hugely successful in France. Aside from several sumptuous new instrumentals from Biolay, the album is a fairly humdrum affair for me, mostly a regurgitation of (or versions of) tracks I already own - the now de riguer Keren Ann's "Coin du Monde (Streets Go Down)," Bertrand Burgalet's "Ma Recontre" performed by the film's romantic leads Julie Gayet et Julien Boisselier, and a demo version of Biolay's duet with Chiara Mastroianni, "Grand Retour de La Chance," from this year's Home. However, as a passport for the neophyte traveler, Clara et Moi is as good an introduction as any to the some of the better pop music that has been coming out of France over the last few years.