OUR FAVORITE NEW MUSIC & MOVIES! - Amoeba Music

many of rock’s lost legends, he squandered both
through a decades-long descent into alcoholism
and obscurity. This frequently funny, truly loving,
and ultimately deeply moving doc sits down with
the people closest to him (including a lot of famous
faces) to explore why he rejected fame,
and helps define a musical legacy that still hasn’t
been given its proper due.
The Tillman Story -
Directed by Amir Bar-Lev
We all remember the story of pat Tillman, right?
American-as-apple-pie football star gives up
lucrative NFL deal, goes to fight for his country,
and dies under unclear circumstances. The
government tried to play it off as an honorable
battlefield death to stir up jingoistic wartime
support; the truth came out that he was
killed accidentally by fellow US troops. While
we may already know how it’ll play out, following
the Tillman family as they piece together the
clues to their late son’s death is a spellbinding
and harrowing trip, particularly when watching
his mother’s intense determination when faced
with insurmountable opposition. This film also
includes one of the most badass eulogies I’ve
ever seen, courtesy of pat’s youngest brother.
Exit Through the Gift Shop –
Directed by Banksy
I probably don’t even need to bother writing
about this, right? Everyone’s already seen it and
loves it, yeah? Ok, well, if you haven’t, do. It’s really
great! I won’t bore you with the details, because
they’re worth experiencing fresh, but this
is seriously one of the most entertaining movies
all year. It, like everything Banksy touches, has
developed a weird mythos surrounding it, with
words like “pseudodocumentary” and “prank”
being bandied about. It’s neither; it is merely a
very entertaining portrait of a few eccentrics
working in the now-almost-mainstream graffiti
art culture. It’s also funny as hell, and frequently
exhilarating, and gives you a few bits to think
about on your way out of the theater (or off the
couch or whatever).
Jean-Michel Basquiat:
Radiant Child – Directed by
Tamra Davis
Basquiat was super awesome. Tamra Davis (aka
Mike D’s wife) is super awesome — between Billy
Madison, Half Baked, and Crossroads, she’s probably
directed your favorite movie. Back in 1985,
they were buddies, and she shot a 20-minute
interview with him, which developed decades
later into this documentary. Fleshed out with interviews
with Fab 5 Freddy, Julian Schnabel, and
50 MUSIC WE LIKE H Spring/Summer 2011
others close to him, she mostly explores how,
before his premature death of heroin overdose,
he lurked just beneath superstardom and cultural
ubiquity. This movie finally provides a clear
illustration of the success and untimely death of
the controversial young artist whose influence is
still being defined today.
Catfish – Directed by Ariel
Schulman/Henry Joost
Calling this a documentary is sort of a cheat,
as many of the movie’s key moments are, if not
wholly staged, at least a little guided towards
their conclusions. But, ignoring that, this is a
wonderfully entertaining movie. The film’s direct
message of “sometimes people on the internet
lie about who they are” was dismissed as too
obvious by a lot of people, but beneath that are
themes of modern alienation and the difficulty
of truly connecting with a person. It’s a character
study wrapped in a mystery pretending to
be reality, but it plays out well, and ends on a
fascinating — and relevant — note.
Here’s some more I’m too tired to explicitly review,
but you should still watch:
- Restrepo (Harrowing Afghan war travelogue)
- Waking Sleeping Beauty (The second
coming of Disney, home grown)
- I Knew it Was You: Rediscovering John
Cazale (John Cazale is awesome, duh)
- Until the Light Takes Us (Black metal is
crazy, here’s why)
dANIEl TURES
Floor manager
Aquarius, hi-fi enthusiast
Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
(MODULAr)
zowie!!! Aussie three-piece drops one of the
year’s hottest slices of indie-rock, a masterfully
assured tapestry of glistening, catchy psych-rock
with songs and hooks for miles. produced by
Flaming Lip Dave Fridmann for superkaleidoscopic
audio transdimensionality. Fans of Dungen,
MgMT, Ariel pink will dig!
Dark Party – Light Years
(OLD TACOMA rECOrDS)
The year is 3011…get on the electrodisco
monorail with Eliott Lipp & Leo Ciccone aka
Dark party! Moody synths and peoplemoving
beats for a dancetastic new decade. This is the
rEAL Tron soundtrack!
Zion I – Atomic Clock
(gOLD DUST MEDIA)
The Bay Area’s finest hip-hop team keeps developing
their thought & sound in progressive
directions! A tough mix of funky party beats
and intelligent message, keeping alive the flame
of the golden Age rap sounds of De La, Native
Tongues etc., with their own eclectic, stoney 415
flavor. The clock is tickin’!
Smith Westerns – Dye It
Blonde (FAT pOSSUM)
Yeehoo! This Chicago garage-punk combo kicks
up a perfect glammy summertime bubblegum
noise on their sophomore slump. Ten perfect
tracks of hazy riffs and sha-la falsettos to getcha
movin’!
The Greenhornes – “HHHH”
(WArNEr BrOS.)
Cincinatti garage-rock heroes The greenhornes
are back in the saddle! They play an awesome
blend that’s part classic ’60s beat like the Creation
or The Sonics, part Nirvana-esque ’90s
grunge. Craig Fox got his rhythm section back
from Jack White (who stole them for the raconteurs)
and they’re back with a tough, moody
new set of gems!
Crocodiles – Sleep Forever
(FAT pOSSUM)
Crocodiles kILL IT!!! Much like real crocodiles!
This awesome San Diego shoegaze motorbeat
duo whips up a searing Psychocandy sound on
their debut — but this one beefs up the shoegaze
pop and takes them all the way into glorious
primal Screamlandia. Much more developed
and better produced and full of amazing tunes.
Stereolab – Not Music (DrAg CITY)
On their last full-length before an indefinite
hiatus, Stereolab prove again that they are the
timelords, unleashing majestic utopian pop over
pulsing grooves and heavy drones. Some of the
fluorescent cheerfulness of Chemical Chords
tempered with darker themes.
Jimmy Edgar – XXX (!k7)
Detroit is back, reincarnated as young 808 wizard
J. Edgar! This album takes the electro beats,
fat minor-key soulful synthlines and motorik
textures of classic Juan Atkins and Stacey pullen
and adds plenty of pop r&B and ’80s sleaze.
Death – Spiritual, Mental,
Physical (DrAg CITY)
Totally rockalyzing! Three black siblings from
Detroit got inspired by The MC5 and The
Stooges and recorded a scorching slab of heavy
political proto-punk in the early-’70s, For the
Whole World To See. When their label ordered a
name change, they said no, and so it never saw
the light of day til Drag City reissued it a couple
years ago. These are more tough tracks from the
same sessions.
G.I. Disco – Various Artists (BBE)
Red-hot dancefloor-packin’ set of lost ’80s freestyle
and electrodisco that was popular in West
germany in the Cold War years. All 12” mixes!
Timex Social Club, BBq Band, Freez, more!
Heather Porcaro & the
Heartstring Symphony –
Heather Porcaro & the
Heartstring Symphony
Talented local chanteuse writes a great pop
song and sings it in an unforgettably lovely voice!
Catchy, heartstirring tunes with tight, creative
rock arrangements. Fans of Florence & the Machine,
Bat For Lashes, The Like, kate Bush will
dig this for sure.
Brian Eno – Small Craft on a
Milk Sea (WArp rECOrDS)
eno finally joins Warp for his latest, and as with
everything he does, it’s exploding with ideas,
sound colors and forward-thinking, boundarybreaking
freshness. From the deep, crystalline
ambience of the opening and closing tracks,
MUSIC WE LIKE H Spring/Summer 2011 51