Nitin Sawhney - "Philtre" (album)

Dark, though not gloomy, slow triphop (sliphop?), interlaced with fragmented ambient sounds. Subdued.

The following list is not complete

• "Everything" got me immediatly interested
• female voice on "Spark" is slightly eerie
• "Dead Man", more hiphop, with oriental influences. Not particularly good
• "Mausam", even more Indian-sounding, not really my thing
• "Journey", starts jazzy, reminds a bit of Seal, but the close-harmony later on is a bit too boybandish
• "Koyal (Songbird)" start slow, melancholy. Oriental voice and words again. A gem.
• "Noches en Vela (pt1 & pt2)", starts slowing, builds up to a fast South American rhythm. 
• "Throw", standard
• "Swing set", bit too hyper

Moon (2009)

A moodpiece. Lonely man on the moon, fulfilling a 3 year contract, suddenly finds his own clone.. and realises he himself is a clone.

It can't be helped that there are strong reminders of "Do Androids Dream Of Electronic Sheep?" and the like. Is man more than the sum of his memories? This film does not provide an answer. One could argue that, since one of the clones manages to destroy the blocking antennae and escape in a pod to Earth, he is.

But he merely responds to new information, so one could argue that, still, man is nothing more, but.

Music: Clint Mansell. Obviously, it was perfect. Kevin Spacey as the robot. Good voice.

I realised you need reoccurring scenes to establish routine first, only to show something is different later.

To me, the film wasn't too much about existentialism, though there are definitely anchors and pointers to fire up a discussion, it was a classical moodpiece with unity of time, place and character.

A film to ponder about when you walk out of the cinema, to relish its feeling, its mood.

Roger Whittaker - "I don't believe in if anymore"

This song got stuck in my head more than a few days ago. In one of those lucky circumstances that never happens when one wished they did, the song played in a pub in which I was having too many beers after a 16km walk (without food).

Later, fuelled by Fry's fantastic "The Ode Less Travelled" I even imagined for a little while that it was an answer to Rudyard Kipling's poem "If". It isn't, of course. (I say this with the dedain of someone who just looked up the actual lyrics: I've always thought he said "fool" where it is actually "foe"). But a small part of my mind still wishes it was. 

But nevermind that. It was, is, and will ever be a wonderful song full of grasping, wishing, fearing. 

Dollhouse s01e13 / s02e01

Still an intriguing series. Am thoroughly happy that it seems to continue. After all, wasn't there some talk after s01e12 about this series "doing a Firefly"?

Fortunately, not.

s01e13 was described to me as "chaotic, not really having to do anything with the storyline". I completely disagree and would almost refer to Irving, who, in my opinion, is still master of "telling what will happen long before it does, yet keeping you glued to your seat" (think "A Prayer For Owen Meany"). This episode - is it really the unaired pilot? - draws you to the inevitable conclusion. Mankind will destroy itself with this knowledge. And you want to know how. And you want to know how the few are gonna escape. Because they are the good, so they must live, right?

I have enough faith in Joss Whedon to trust him to make the right decision. After all, his characters are merely imprints with which we love to identify.

s02e01 is a fairly common episode, but it continues the thread of psycho Echo, starting to remember.

All in all, Dollhouse keeps messing with facts you take for certain; the mind, the "me". A body is downgraded to a mere vessel, a mind is constructed from a harddrive. The horror in the eyes of creater Topher as he realised, it was me who unlocked the secret of how to turn millions into drones. How brilliant. How horrible.

Children with matches. Yet we are fireflies. Always drawn to the fire, no matter how destructive.

Clint Mansell - "The Quiet American OST"

There are two words scribbled in my notebook and I have no idea what they say.

The third, though, I can decipher: "ok".

I listened to this right after his "World Trade Center OST" and remember it was much better. More Mansellish?

Clint Mansell - "Word Trade Center OST"

not very interesting.

Sarah Waters - "Little Stranger"

Bought just because it's her latest book. It took me quite some time to get through it. Two months, it seemed.

She's very good at describing moods by describing physical buildings, details, people. Perhaps sometimes a bit too much.

The struggles of the main character are well-written, but all in all it all takes a bit too long. Not enough pace?

Her alternating use of the main character's POV and an all-knowing writer's eye was a bit strange when you look for it, but it didn't hurt the story. One could easily read through it without noticing it.

All in all, ok. But I probably won't reread it.

Razorlight - "Wire by wire"

Discovered the album "Slipway Fires" again, particularly this song. "Hostage of Love" might even be a bigger hit, but they're all catchy.

I'm usually not too fond of the suddenly high-pitched voices, but it suited Wire by Wire". A calling-out, a longing.

Catchy. Keep listening to it.

P.D. James - "Children of Men"

Was looking through lists of dystopic stories, this title sounded so familiar. Turned out that the film with similar title starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore was loosely based on this story. When I found it in the library, it seemed to fit alongside "Poste Restante" and why shun some possible inspiration?

Can't help it, but yes the book was better, compared to what I remembered from the film. Less action, less clear answers. Those aren't the point.

In short: suddenly the whole world becomes infertile. No cure is found. Strange practices start, "mothers" with dolls as substitutes. The Quietus: killing of old people because they want it to end (an escape?). The nephew of England's "leading counsil man" Xan (basically, tyrant) becomes involved with an anti-government group, 4 people, not experienced in anything like warfare. After bombings they have to flee across England and one of the women turns out to be pregnant.

quote: "no one was more adept at demolishing a woman's self-confidence while treating her with meticulous, indeed almost insulting, consideration and courtesy."

I wonder whether "I got the blues. The black dog on my shoulder" is a common proverb.

The first sentence of a paragraph often seems factual. Afterwards, it continues with facts or introduces subversive viewpoints. Describe what people do - "spying" -, not just the facts - "has another country found the cure to global infertility" -, but add emotional reasons, - "adult buccaneering". Sometimes, start with this emotional POV.

Lots of Christan elements, without becoming a religious story. Certain things are not explained, the infertility or why the woman can become pregnant again. Moral grounds when there are no facts. Choices to make. Repentance for sins of the past. Xan == Herodes. Julian == Maria. Faron (main character) is ...? Humanity?

Some would call this an open ending. Xan dies, Faron takes his place. A child is born. I like the fact that the story doesn't provide certainties, there aren't always answers. Living is groping in the semi-darkness and trying to make the best of it, I guess.

Wonderful writing.

The Cat Piano

http://www.thepra.com.au/Content.aspx?p=117

A wonderful dark jazzy tale of cats and an evil man who snatches them away to create his devilish "cat piano". Narrated by Nick Cave, simple animation with only a few colourtones per scene, it is beautiful.

The animation seemed somewhere between old-fashioned and flash-web, probably produced with tools of the latter by people who really know what they are doing.

Ponyo on a cliff by the sea

The latest from Hayao Miyazaki, studio Ghibli

It's a nice piece, happy, bubbly (literally) but a whole lot more aimed towards children. Or rather, less aimed at adults. The dark undercurrents that were so typical of his other films, are almost completely gone here.

Still, reading through some trivia, one can't help but marvel at the beauty and craftmanship:

• The opening 12 seconds, involving vast schools of fish and undersea creatures, required 1613 pages of conceptual sketches to develop.

Millenium: mannen die vrouwen haten (Män som hatar kvinnor) (2009)

The books are said to (become) a big hit. They're huge. LoTR style.

I must admit I read some reviews, all of them positive, before watching the film, but those didn't spoil it.

Haven't read the books, some of my family have and they considered them ok, but one quote I remember well: the reviewer actually prefers the shortcut the film needs to take to the extensive description of literally every character offered by the book(s).

I wouldn't say I am as lyrical about it as some of the people I've met, but it is definitely a good film. Gripping at moments, a high pace. The style one could describe as typically Scandinavian; cold, winter, bleak colours, but this is also due to the setting of the story.

There is one plot instrumentum that I wasn't too happy with. It becomes obvious that while "sidekick" Lisbeth Salander (she's much more than that, a stronger personality than Mikael Blomkvist, which is part of the whole male vs female discussion that the book/film raise) discovers who the murderer is, he of course is just at the house of the killer. And is caught by him. And yes (no! you groan) she manages to save him at the very last moment.

Yes, go on, give me crap about timing and suspence, but it ruined the fairly realistic tone that was established. This single plot device suddenly turns you around and you see the Hollywood cardboards, the effects, ... 

But that sounds too harsh. I truly liked the film.

Mono - "Hymn to the Immortal Wind" (album)

Where did I get this album from? X-Rated suggestion?

Long, chaotic, running-wild soundscapes. Bit busy to the ears, but not bad.

The songs, for example "Burial At Sea", feel like a 5min bombastic song that has been stretched into 15-20min. It is slow, yet progressively overwhelming.

There are wonderful parts, but a bit too excessive and repeating. At least, while one is supposed to be working.

Muse - "The Resistance" (album)

1. Uprising
   still as good as ever
2. Resistance
   Good, same mood.
   
3. Undisclosed Desires
   boyband-beatish, though the low base-notes at the beginning are very Muse-ish. Not a favourite.
4. United States of Eurasia
   "ha! ha! ha!"
   In the latest Q, Matthew Bellamy tells they want an "over the top" part on every album. A bit that cracks them up when they hear it back. Guess this is the one.
5. Guiding Light
   Okay.
6. Unnatural Selection
   oh! organ! love the uptempo "ocean...ocean..." with the multivocals. Bit System-Of-A-Down-ish at times
7. MK Ultra
   uptempo (that's relative, I admit). good
8. I Belong To You
   wondered by the title whether this'd be a kind of "Unintended". It _is_ definitely more slowpaced with a hint of the "chinese harmonics" that featured in United Status of Eurasia. The slow piano and drawling voice make a good second "over the top" candidate. Crazy tempo-changes! Invites a near boogy at the end.
9. Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (overture)
   Violins, orchestra... piano, soft voice. Bellamy in NME: "I think on the next album I’d like to do at least one 15-minute space-rock solo."
   

Klaus Schulze - "Dark Side of the Moog"

Love its soundscapes. Flying over a dying world, watching an unborn planet.

Life is sizzling, but it is strange and not human. Reptilian. Hot. Fighting the cold of space.

M. Vasalis - ("ik droom steeds vaker in mijn dromen")

Ik droom steeds vaker in mijn dromen 
een barre grond, groot en verlaten, 
gegolfd, versteend, verwonderlijk geplooid, 
met kromme, bladerloze, grote bomen, 
als een van te nabij gezien en oud gelaat, 
en voel mij thuis – te dicht bij huis – gekomen. 
Te sterk, te naakt, te vroeg berooid. 
Daar is geen rust, gewen dood, al bloeit geen blad, 
al is het stil – geen vogelstemmen... 
De stilte en rust zijn schijn: 
het hart van een cycloon, 
al klopt het niet, een niet te temmen 
kracht schijnt alles bij elkaar te klemmen. 
Zo is het land, waarin ik woon. 

O tovenaar, o kracht, waar zijn de vogels toch gebleven, 
de kleine, warme, met hun ritselende veren, 
die zich van takjes stortten met een dikke keel; 
de twijgjes die zich verende herstelden 
van ’t licht gewicht, dat het zo sierelijk verliet? 
Het waren toch zo vele 
Wanneer ik sterven moet, wil ik bij kleine vogels sterven 
en water horen en de oortjes van het gras 
zien spitsen en de losse aarde voelen.

M. Vasalis - ("In de oudste lagen van mijn ziel")

In de oudste lagen van mijn ziel,
waar hij van steen is gemaakt,
bloeit als een gaaf, ontkleurd fossiel
de stenen bloem van uw gelaat.

Ik kan mij niet van u bevrijden,
er bloeit niets in mijn steen dan gij.
De oudste weelden zijn voorbij
maar niets kan mij meer van u scheiden.

Simon Carmiggelt - "Femme d'artiste"

Zij loopt hem na met spijs en spet,
als hij in trance zijn gaven zit te melken,
of na veel kroegen eindelijk in bed 
van het artiestenfeest ligt te verwelken.

Zij kent zijn vijf verschillende gezichten,
zijn vreugd, zijn woede en zijn dom gepoch. 
Hij kan niet veel, dat weet ze wel, maar och...
geduldig luistert ze naar zijn gedichten.

En laat zich wekken 's nachts, omdat zijn luit
weer iets bijzonders aan de Muze heeft ontwrongen.  
Zij wacht tot 't uit is en zegt ongedwongen:
'Het is heel mooi, Wim, je gaat steeds vooruit.'

Een jurk kan zij niet kopen, want het ongerief
van zijn gestadig dingen naar de erepalm
maakt haar zo arm. Maar in de keukenwalm
ziet zij hem stralend aan - ze heeft hem lief.

Martin Scorcese - "Warming By The Devil's Fire" (disc 4)

With Ma Rainey, Son House, Charley Potten, Mildred Jones.

"Oh Brother Where Art Thou"-ish. Perhaps not the best...

uh

I wanted to write: "perhaps not the best music to code with."

But just right now Billie Holiday started with "I'm A Fool To Want You"... and there is always a good time for Billie Holiday.

Stephen James Taylor - "Give Me Freedom" : gospel, slightly dark.

Definitely a multiversed collection. Just had Eagle Eye Cherry, now Public Enemy. Not one of my favourite songs though. Or Tom Jones in duet Jeff Beck. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds!

Slumdog Millionaire

Saw it again and was positively impressed by the story-telling. Though many actions might seem random, they fit together in a plausible way.

First lesson during the first minutes: confuse your audience. Bombard them with the same character in opposite situations without telling what is going on. Curiosity rules.

"Jai Ho" still catchy. Must admit that the vocoder is used well here.