The Automatik

Maplemusic/Universal, 2004

It was bound to happen sooner or later. After gushing about Joel Plaskett’s genius songwriting and peerless vocal stylings as much as I have, I’d have to be disappointed eventually. Truthfully Truthfully is not a terrible album, or even a bad one. It’s just not a worthy follow-up to Down at the Khyber.
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Astralwerks

Considering that Air’s 2001 release, 10,000 Hz. Legend, was one of my favorite albums of 2001 and will probably end up as a favorite of this decade, I was both thrilled and hesitant to listen to their latest offering, Talkie Walkie.
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I have been alerted to this piece of crap from our dear “friends” at Pitchfork magazine. It’s a review of Sloan’s last album, Action Pact. I hope that the fact that this review came out today and the album came out last year is an indication of the delay of its U.S. release and not laziness or apathy.
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Whenever I watch the show COPS (which is actually rather frequently), I’m amazed by the amount of time law enforcement spends on prostitution stings. These are executed in one of two formats: A) a female cop poses as a hooker in order to nab would-be johns or B) a male cop chats up a hooker in order to charge her with solicitation. My concern with this is not that I believe prostitution should be ignored or even legalized; what I object to is the way the police officers cheer as they tally up the day’s total, as if they’re somehow saving the world by throwing men and women in jail for participating in prostitution.
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El Matador
January 10, 2004

“The Paleolithic Era is over! Let’s embrace the dawn of the Iron Age!”

So quoth Mr. Quintron at Saturday evening’s final show at El Matador.
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I saw next to zero new films this year, so making a list of Top Ten Films would be presumptuous. However, there were plenty of other things to talk about, so hopefully you will enjoy them.
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From IMDB.com:

Ordinarily when a powerfully talented performer produces a minor, disposable product like this, the advice is, “For die-hard fans only.” In this case, however, die-hard fans are the ones who will least like this documentary, as it is quite insulting to them (Cross fans are depicted as a bunch of crass, idiotic stoners.) As for David, he’s shown in a not very flattering light, dressed up in tacky clothes that are twenty-five years too young for him and indulging in adolescent behavior (setting off illegal fireworks, bragging about vandalizing his old highschool, gossiping about girls he’s slept with.) Put it this way: I would rather watch “Run Ronnie Run” again than sit through this thing a second time. You have been warned.
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“Honesty,” a wise man once said, “is such a lonely word.” I don’t really know where I’m going with this one; I just thought it would be a clever intro to this piece.
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House of Blues
November 21, 2003

I’m one of those people who have never owned a Spiritualized or Spacemen 3 album. I couldn’t even name one of either band’s songs. I’ll give you a minute to rouse yourself from a shocked stupor.
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Brobdingnagian/Outside Records, 2000

When I love an album, I want to rant endlessly how it’s the greatest album of all time, and in some cases, that’s exactly what transpires. Only later do I look back and cringe at how I’ve smothered it in hyperbole. Yet I’ve owned Down at the Khyber for a couple of years now and my appetite for it grows with every listen. Sometimes I don’t even want to play it because it’s so great. I’m afraid that on the next listen, it will be revealed to be a Kubla Khan-esque creation of my subconscious that I’ll never be able to enjoy again.
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