The Talented Mr. Hoffman.

I saw Charlie Wilson's war recently and found it to be a fine movie. It has a good story, good acting and great dialogs. I really enjoyed it. But the high point of the movie is definitely Phillip Seymour Hoffman's acting. Hoffman was not only nominated for an Academy Award that he should have won for this role, but actually is one of the greatest actors of our time, and sadly, many times unappreciated by most.
If you take a look at his career we're talking about a guy that hardly gets a leading role, and when he does, like in Capote, he pulls an amazing job and takes the Oscar home. But even in films like Almost Famous and The Talented Mr. Ripley he helps the entire story playing natural, supporting role characters with brilliance.
I'm going to let the man talk for himself. This scene out of Charlie Wilson's war may well be the finest piece of acting he's ever pulled in his entire career. It's funny, intense and acted with such a natural skill that makes me think that Gust Avrokatos (Hoffman's character) may be one of the best created characters I've seen lately. Enjoy.

* I cannot post the youtube video for some reason so just click here to see the video *

When I grow up I want to be like Jarvis.

Think about it. He's very well read, a great writer, a great songwriter, very stylish, probably has a killer musical taste and knowledge, not to mention hanging with very interesting music and arts people from the UK and the world. I mean, in everyday terms, Jarvis is the man.

He not only lead Pulp, one of my favorite bands and arguably the best band in Britain during the 90's. Yes, the same 90's of Britpop (which Pulp is a huge part of) and the same 90's dominated by bad pop and grunge. Britpop was the best genre out of that decade and Pulp was the best band, so screw you Damon and Gallagher's.

A few weeks ago I was working on an entry about the greatest songwriters of our time and realized that maybe he is my favorite one. As "our time" I mean mid 90's forward. And there's been a lot of great ones, that's why I now finally publish my list.

There's been many great songwriters in the history of music. But only a few of them stand out to influence the newer generations of musicians. And every era of music has one of these virtuosos of songwriting.
Songwriting isn't only about putting nice words into a verse. That's writing.
Songwriting is the ability of mixing the perfect words in the perfect melody. Sometimes the words are awesome, even poetic, but when put in a song they feel forced. Music and poetry are not the same thing. That is why good writers not necessarily make good songwriters and vice versa. I don't see Jack White writing a perfectly well written poem, book or novel (maybe he could), but he sure as hell can write songs, good songs.

In the future, these songwriters will inspire the coming musicians. As they have been inspired by the great songwriters of the past. To name a few of the old lions:

Bob Dylan (arguably the greatest)
John Lennon
Leonard Cohen
Nick Drake
Ray Davies
Morrissey



My list of the best songwriters of our time.

Jarvis Cocker
Elliott Smith
Jack White
Ryan Adams
Connor Oberst
Damon Gough (Badly Drawn Boy)
Thom Yorke


I might have forgotten some names, if I do come up with more I'll post them. Until then, enjoy.

What do you do when you conquer the musical world?

A solid fourth album.



That's what Coldplay did. Yes, I like Coldplay. Is that wrong? Maybe it is to some Pitchfork-loving people who don't wander outside what the Bucktown reviewer tells them (and believe me, I like and respect Pitchfork, but I don't trust them blindly on everything.) They've been throwing stones at Coldplay ever since A Rush of Blood to the Head, and so has all the "hipster/indie" tribe. Why do we feel that when a band starts being successful (in this case, very) they are stolen from our pick-up conversations and we suddenly loose a step of coolness by saying we like a band that everyone likes. What is son wrong with big bands these days?

I love Coldplay, I think they're a serious band, a band that everyone likes, with their own style that maybe they have exploited too much (but who hasn't, not everyone is Lou Reed, and believe even Lou can get pretty boring around the 80's.)
I mean, they make good songs. Commercial? Maybe. Easy to listen? Yes. But, is that so bad? Sometimes we tend to over-analyze music and we don't realize that it's just about enjoying it. If you are doing that it doesn't matter if they went commercial or starve to death, you either like it or you don't. So, don't hate Coldplay for what they are, hate them if you really don't like the way they sound.

Viva la Vida is a good album, maybe not their best, yet good and consistent in most times. I do have to say that Mr. Eno's hand behind the controls is evident, and while adding some The Edge-like guitar reefs every now and then, the band maintains their own sound, the one they have been building up, and perfecting, since Parachutes. For the most part the songs are very Coldplay, except three tracks that run longer than 6 minutes, quite unnecessary and out of their style. But, good try.

I will see them live next Wednesday at the United Center in Chicago. From my two previous experiences with Coldplay live I'm expecting a pretty good show. I'll tell you all about it. Until then, Viva la Vida.

Too many kids (and keys).

A few months back my younger brother wrote to me if I had heard of the Black Kids, which I rapidly took as a typo and assumed he was referring to the Black Keys, whom I obviously know and like a lot. But he wasn't.
Shortly after that e-mail I saw him and he asked me again, emphasizing that he wasn't referring to the Black Keys, but to the CMJ praised band out of Florida that once again, and to prove everyone else that DIY is the way today, became known through the Internet, more specific through MySpace.
The Black Kids, who by now I have heard a lot of, play amazing, simple, fast, guitar-garage rock. And they are unpretentiously good. Really worth listening to. Their debut album is yet to be released (I think this month) and it's called Partie Traumatic. But you can get a taste of their songs on their web or MySpace pages.

Enjoy.

And BTW, not to be confused with the Cool Kids.