Firstly, in a recent post I lamented the lack of cultural reference to the Donegal region of Ireland, which inspired a correspondent to write to me and point out there was quite a push on to promote tourism in that area, a sentiment I can only whole-heartedly support after many years of visiting the last ignored unspoiled place which matches what people might and should picture when they think of 'Ireland-that-is-not-Dublin'. Anyway, there was a Donegal Live Event in Temple Bar in Dublin in May, which showcased Donegal and included performances by numerous artists from the area. A facebook page (www.facebook.com/DonegalLive) to provide information about offers, accommodation, attractions, events, and more in the region. So, lots of information available for anyone who wants to find out more about music and more in Donegal, and I can only recommend it to anyone.
Now, on to this week's bits of news....
Now, on to this week's bits of news....
Music
Okay, I admit that in previous posts I have been less than enthusiastic about Arcade Fire and their apparent effortless campaign for global critical dominance (see here and here for examples) and something about the adulatory tone of the reviews of 'The suburbs' sort of set my teeth on edge, but I did buy it (iTunes) and have to admit it has made me reassess, if not their past, then certainly their future potential. It just seems and feels different to the others, less up-itself, less self-consciously epic yet far more organically epic, less dense and headache-induding, less annoying, and conversely lighter, more 80s, more identifiable and more memorable. It is in my view not a masterpiece, and the album gets better as it goes on (and it does go on quite a bit), with the first few tracks (after the title) being a bit too reminiscent of their old stuff for me ('Rococo' is notably failing to win me over to its charms, and 'Modern man' is a bit basic) but it really gets interesting around 'City with no children', which is almost certainly my favourite Arcade Fire song to date, bar none.From here, the album goes in much more interesting directions, and the two-parters are very interesting, in both cases the second installment being greater than the first, and 'Sprawl (Mountains beyond mountains)' manages to win me over (as opposed to Win me over) by not sounding like them at all at all:
While 'Half-light II' (for a wondeful moment in the early days I thought they may have written me a song called 'Half life 2' but alas no) is very 1980s (as almost every review points out) and certainly sounds more OMD than anything else to me (not a cricitism, mind you):
I also like the chug of 'Empty room' and the way it takes an abrupt turnaround after the first few seconds, which always make me think the iPod has skipped on to the McAlmont and Nyman orchestral album by mistake. This and a few other songs really remind me of the direction they signalled on 'Lenin' from the great 'Dark was the night' compilation (which I reviewed here).
All in all, I have to admit it is a very promising album, and when my feeling of goodwill towards them was still in its rosy flushes, they announced a gig in Dublin, supported by Vampire Weekend, and I resolved to go, but failed to secure a ticket in the first morning of release. I think they must hold my previous comments against me.....
Anyway, after all that, in other music news I decided to use the iTunes festival release series as a low-cost way to catch up on new bands I knew by name only, and bought mini-albums by Foals, the Drums and Bombay Bicycle Club. I am afraid I haven't given them much time yet (The Suburbs remaining a demanding taskmaster as it pounds me into admitting I may have been wrong about them) but one song ('Forever and ever' by The Drums) has caught my ear (they appear to have been named after their most notable strength, in my view), as seen and heard below:
They do look a bit silly though, let's face it. Other recent acquisitions I need to listen to more before I can comment on include Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell (a true musical Beauty and the Beast) and the Magic Numbers (which had the odd effect of making me listen to their debut, a really good album, again, before I even listened to the new one). I also want to talk about the great concept behind Kristen Hersh's new book/website/CD/whatever. All to be covered more in future!
Movies
I will keep this bit short, but I did see 'Inception' and thought it was really really good. I had for once tried to avoid spoilers in advance, while my normal habit is to proactively seek them out, and really think I want to see it again to digest it properly. I absolutely loved allowing myself, in the days after seeing it, to finally browse the discussions on-line and seeing how many different interpretations of the plot, and especially the ending, there are out there. I think it is just wondderul when a movie can get people talking and thinking that much. Now, two weeks after, my brain has finally unentangled, but the images I can't get out of my head are those in the hotel, and the rotating fights and flight to the lift......At the other extreme, I saw the 'A-team' with my son and nephew, and have to ashamedly admit that I enjoyed it more than I expected, and thought the line about trying to fly a tank was (almost) worth the price of admission alone.
On DVD, I enjoyed 'The men who stare at goats' (having read and enjoyed the book on which it is oh so ephemerally based) but spent quite some time wondering how George Clooney had come to look so much like Denis Farina in 'Midnight run' and 'The crazies' (good zombie movie). The ox-cart chase in 'Year one' was also one of the funniest things I have seen in a while, although the rest was a bit patchy. I also saw 'Brothers' which was fairly gripping although somehow old-stle predictable, and while Tobey Maguire seemed to be over-egging the omlette, Jake Gyllenhall is really a very watchable and believable presence. I must admit that Natalie Portman resides for me with Leonardo Di Caprio as two actors who having once been seen as children I find very hard to accept as grown-ups (even in 'Inception'......).
Books
My big discovery here was 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' which I read on Kindle and absolutely loved; it really caught me by surprise and I found it absolutely compulsive reading and, although I found the resolution of the killer thread a little pat and formulaic, the subsequent relevelation of the fate of Harriet made up for it in spades. I moved swiftly on to 'The girl who played with fire'; this started for me much more slowly and I sorely missed the claustraphobic setting and limited cast of the first book but it has proven just as addictive and is really sucking up far too much of my time and attention now. The aurhor's habit of switching plot strands very quickly keeps you glued as you want to read the next it to see what is happening there, and then another bit, and suddenly the day is quite gone. I just have to decide whether to watch the subtitled or dubvbed version of 'Dragon tattoo' now. One of the really wierd things about reading on Kindle (at least the iPhone version) is the peculiar disorientation of not always being physically aware of how far you are through a book, as you constantly are with a physical book, which is actually quite liberating when you get used to it, although it can mean that the ending sort of sneaks up on you.
Gadgets (or at least one gadget)
Anyway, I got the iPhone 4, one week after release, and waved goodbye with a misty eye to my trusty Nokia N95 (which I traded in). In fact, I have suddenly had my life significantly lightened as I have gone from three constant companions (Touch, Nokia and Blackberry) to one (plus the Blackberry at work - I swear I think it is sulking 'cos it knows I am checking my e-mail far more on the iPhone, and keeps doing wierd things like losing charge or date memory). Such is progress!
Anyway, I am sure posts in future will frequently comment on it, but initial reaction is that I love it an unreasonable and unhealthy amount, and it is almost all I expected, and moreso in some cases. Okay, the iTunes functionality and apps are largely as per the touch (except I have gone mad adding probably more than 20 new apps since purchase) but the introduction folders is fantastic, and has reduced everything to 2 screens. I also get a real kick of the very neat screen-split effect they use when you open and closse a folder.
I also love the way everything is so integrated, like being able to take a picture and send by text or e-mail, or open attachments and read files properly like you never could on the Blackberry (with the held of a few reader apps I downloaded). I haave set up Myspace and Twitter on it, and find them really surprisingly usable on the iPhone, and spend a lot of time marvelling at the satellite finding me on Maps (sad I know). I have even set up an App to allow me to use Blogger on it, but am still too unused to the touch keyboard to picture a decent-length post being composed on it. I have not noticed anything about calls being dropped or my cheek doing a hang-up, and also admit I am not quite sure what the fuss about the screen resolution is.
On the negative side, the camera is far more basic in function than the Nokia's and the video has no zoom, so I fear my illicit concert clips in future posts may be even more distant. I also found the texting a bit counter-intuitive at first, and mistook a few texts I had sent for incoming ones on the display, leading to some modestly amusing confusions. It also took a while for me to work out how to set songs as ringtones, and that needed some internet digging to uncover. The current ringtones I have set up to be used as mood dictates are the intros to 'WMA' by Pearl Jam and 'Love vigilantes' by New Order, and the guitar attack one minute in from 'Leave' by REM. A ringtone has to be simple, loud, distinctive and striking, and these three passages fit that bill perfectly for now.
For me, the really big grumble on the iPhone is the battery life, which is simply crap, needing a new charge every day, and currently having me in a state of constant mild anxiety about the state of the battery, especially since I set up the percentage reading.
All in all, it is no doubt a thing of wonder, and I am extremely excited by it, which I am sure I will continue to share annoyingly in future posts.
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