Pearl Jam (J-Records, 2006)

Pearl Jam needs no introduction to anybody who followed rock music in the early nineties. They differed from most of the other acts in the barrage of alternative and grunge music from that time, in that their lyrics often addressed social and political issues without getting caught up in the narcissistic self-absorption that dominated the era. (Ironically, I knew more than one Nirvana fan who complained that Pearl Jam's music was too depressing, if not suicidal.) Fifteen years removed from the runaway success of their debut album Ten, Pearl Jam have successfully outlived the initial hype, surviving being put on a throne by some and unjustly maligned by others. Now Eddie Vedder (vocals and guitar), Stone Gossard (guitar), Mike McCready (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), and Matt Cameron (drums) have re-emerged with their seventh new studio album, simply called Pearl Jam.

Pearl Jam opens with the blistering "Life Wasted," about breaking out of the cycle of self-pity and self-abuse. The next song, "World Wide Suicide," is more directly political. "Medals on a wooden mantle, next to a handsome face that the President took for granted, writing checks that others pay," Vedder sings, and nobody has to ask what he's getting at. Most of the lyrics on the album continue along similar lines. Unfortunately, in several of the songs it's impossible to discern what Vedder is singing about without frequently referring to the lyric sheet; naturally, this compromises the lyrics' impact. Musically, Pearl Jam remains a hard rock band at its core. The band is equally effective at making aggressive, punkish songs like "Life Wasted," and more extended, developed pieces like "Gone" and "Inside Job." Still, for all the attention Pearl Jam has gotten over the years, there are better bands at what they do. The Soundtrack of Our Lives brings more musicality to a similar mix of hard rock styles, and Pearl Jam can't make loud, angry political songs singable the way Midnight Oil could.

In short, Pearl Jam continues to be a good band with a strong sense of purpose and no small amount of staying power. They've always fallen a bit short of being a great band in my estimation, though. Even with a couple of good songs and some strong statements, their new album doesn't push them over the top in that regard.

Overall grade: B

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Failure To Launch

Failure To Launch is a romantic comedy that explores the issues of the so called "boomerang generation." With our prolonged adolescence, high housing costs and high college costs, many twenty somethings return to the safety of their parent's homes, to stay for good. This creates new societal pressures for families.

In this movie, Matthew McConaughey plays such a grown up kid, except he's thirty-five, and drives a Porsche. His mom, played by Cathy Bates, and dad come up with a fool proof plan to push him out of the nest. They hire a specialist, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, whose role is to build his self esteem up so he can move out. Initially, the whole thing is expertly staged, and very professional.

This seemingly simple plan creates the drama of the film. While the pair easily falls for each other, they both get in deeper than they originally planned. Both her roommate, and his friends add to the excitement. Before long, we're not sure if they should be together, or apart. An intriguing lockdown at the end, viewed over many remote webcams, resolves the conflict in a high tech way.

Failure To Launch is a timely film that focuses on this recent societal drama. It will appeal to both twenty year olds, and their parents.

Overall Grade: B+

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A New Save Page Feature

When you find something interesting on the internet, of course we all want to be able to find it again, and even share it with others. One way to be able to do this is to print it out, and put it up on the refrigerator with a magnet. While that will work it is so '90's (or maybe even '80's).

Anyway, we are in the Web 2.0 era. Social bookmarking is all the rage. Social who? That's social bookmarking! With a free online account, to a site like Delicious, you can save the reviews that you want to be able to find at a later date. If several users save the same item, then it becomes a "hot" review, and the packs swarm.

To make this easier, all new reviews will have the "Save This Link" next to the Delicious "chiclet" at the bottom of the post. Give it a try, and you'll be hooked. Enjoy!

I'm also including Digg which is a similar service. If you enjoy an article, here or anywhere else, feel free to "digg it."

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Dar Williams, My Better Self (Razor & Tie, 2005)

The category of female singer-songwriters who play acoustic guitar and sing some combination of country, folk, and rock is very crowded, but Dar Williams has managed to distinguish herself over the past decade and a half with a flair for melody, a sense of humor, and strong social and political conscience. Her albums can be criticized for being predictable and formulaic, though. For better or worse, her latest effort My Better Self is largely what anybody familiar with Williams' work would expect it to be.

Over the years, Williams has written her share of songs about her past, love, and politics, and My Better Self has examples of all three. The album opens with "Teen for God", an autobiographical account of spending summers at Bible camp. In the next song, "I'll Miss You Till I Meet You," Williams addresses the ideal soul mate she hasn't met yet. On "Empire," Williams vents her anger with the Bush administration over its belligerence and its manipulation of the media and the American public. The upbeat "My Beautiful Enemy" describes a love/hate relationship on one level, but there are political undercurrents in the song as well. Williams also honors a deceased friend with "Blue Light Of The Flame," and sings "Close To My Heart" for her newborn son. "Hudson," the disc's closing track, pays tribute to the river that flows through New York City.

The original compositions on My Better Self all sound too famliar, unfortunately. I wouldn't necessarily say that Williams sounds like she's going through the motions, but she definitely seems reluctant
to break from her usual pattern. Curiously, the arrangements on My Better Self show the most life and imagination on the three songs which Williams didn't write. "Echoes," written by Jules Shear along with The Hooters' Rob Hyman and producer Stewart Lerman, is this album's most melodic and singable song. Williams duets with Marshall Crenshaw on Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," which radiates with bright energy. The most remarkable and unexpected cover, though, is Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb." Deliberately placed right after "Empire," Williams brings out the song's often overlooked commentary on how people build up a wall of indifference to what's going on in the world around them. Special guest Ani DiFranco provides a superb backing vocal in the chorus as well.

My Better Self is not really weaker than Dar Williams' previous efforts. It just generally fails to distinguish itself from what Williams has done before, with the only flashes of genuine inspiration coming from the selection and performance of the cover songs. Still, long-time fans of Dar Williams who want more of the same will be happy with the new record, and people curious to hear one of contemporary folk's better performers will find this an acceptable introduction.

Overall grade: B-

Reprinted with permission from The Green Man Review
Copyright 2006 The Green Man Review

Gabriel Yacoub, The Simple Things We Said (Simple, 2002)

Gabriel Yacoub began his career singing and playing guitar in Alan Stivell's band, before going on to form the legendary French Renaissance rock band Malicorne. Malicorne's compilation CD Légende: Deuxieme Epoque exceeds the quality of any of the similar compilations from their English contemporaries Steeleye Span, and is on a comparable level with the best output from Fairport Convention. Malicorne split up twenty years ago, and I hadn't heard any of Yacoub's subsequent solo material until I recently got the chance to listen to 2002's The Simple Things We Said. This album combines new songs with reworked versions of some older songs, with the specific intent of cracking the American world music market.

A couple of things have changed in Yacoub's music since his Malicorne days. For one thing, while most of the songs on The Simple Things We Said are sung in French, Yacoub also sings in English on a couple of songs. The title song is an anglicized version of an older song of his called "Les Choses Les Plus Simple." He wrote a short English song "Letter From America" for the album, and does a chilling cover of the song "You Stay Here" from one of his favorite English-speaking songwriters, Richard Shindell. Most of the music on this CD falls into the category of straightforward acoustic folk, as opposed to the Medieval and rock ends of Malicorne's musical spectrum. A greater focus is placed on Yacoub's guitar playing, which has improved significantly over the years. A couple of songs do echo Yacoub's past though, most notably the a capella "Ami: Âme: Amen (Friend: Spirit: Amen)," a song reflecting on a nightmarish summer when three close friends of Yacoub's passed away, and "Désir," which features a dueling guitar from Nicolaïvan Mignot and backing vocals from Kate and Anna McGarrigle.

Yacoub has also successfully made the transition from performing mostly traditional material to writing most of the songs on this disc. Most of Yacoub's songs, including the title song, are love songs, usually tinged with a hint of melancholy and some indication that the romance has not survived. The lyrical themes diversify in the second half of the disc, though. "Ces Dieux-Là (These Gods)" reads a lot like John Lennon's song "God," except that Yacoub's list of things he does believe in is substantially longer and the chorus is very catchy and singable even to non-native speakers like me. On "Beauté/12th Song of the Thunder," Yacoub very successfully adapts two pieces of poetry from a Navajo ritual.

A couple of facets of Yacoub's music have remained constant over time, though. For one thing, the passing years since Malicorne have been mercifully kind to Yacoub's voice. It remains very distinct and recognizable, and if anything, has matured and gained in character. Most importantly, The Simple Things We Said shows that Gabriel Yacoub remains an intriguing and compelling performer, full of creative musical ideas and still perfectly capable of turning the ideas into first-rate music.

Overall grade: A-



Reprinted with permission from The Green Man Review
Copyright 2006 The Green Man Review

Orbit

For this book review, I decided to take a break from my usual group of marauding submariners, and head up into outer space. We concern ourselves with John Nance's Orbit.

The novel's protagonist is Kip Wilson. The year is 2009, and Kip wins a free trip to outer space. The space vehicle is a larger version of Spaceship One, which was the first commercial spaceship, and won the X prize. The plan is for four passengers and an astronaut pilot to go for a four orbit ride in space.

Let's say that nothing goes according to plan. Before too long, Kip is alone in space, with his radio out, and a malfunctioning spaceship. There is no way to communicate with the outside world. Space faring nations all try to get an emergency rescue mission together. In the meantime Kip decides to write his "tell all" memoirs that no one will read for fifty years- or so he thinks.

Orbit is a fascinating novel in that on one level it is a story of a space mission gone bad, like a not too distant future Apollo 13. On the deeper level, we have the tale of a condemned man writing his memoirs interwoven into this. As he writes his life story, we get to know this character quite well and gain quite a deeper understanding of him. Orbit also has the theme of what one person will do to survive.

Orbit falls somewhere between a thriller, and true science fiction. Fans of either genre will enjoy this well crafted book which is quite compact for the size of the story.

Overall Grade: B+

Aquamarine

Any film with a mermaid immediately invites a comparison with the 80's hit, Splash. Upfront, I will tell you that Aquamarine is quite simply not as good.

A terrible storm ends up washing a mermaid into the pool of a beach club that is the hang out of two best friend girls. This mermaid has been updated with blue highlights of hair, color changing nail polish and starfish earrings. However, the plot is downright childish, and rather trite. The kid moving away at the end of the summer has been done way too many times before as has the other theme of searching for true love. The groups of early teens competing, and putting each other down has got to be the most overdone plot line on television.

Still, this is adequate mindless entertainment for a hot summer evening. Watch accordingly, lower your expectations as needed, and you just might get lost in this film that doesn’t make the same Splash, and break any new ground.

Overall Grade: B-

My Boss' Daughter

Ashton Kutcher stars in My Boss' Daughter. He is the prototypical twenty something aspiring to climb the corporate ladder, but stuck on the first rung. He's attracted to the boss' daughter, and the boss is a first rate despot. When Kutcher thinks he has a date with the lady of his affection, he ends up house sitting for his boss- not exactly what he had planned! A series of events takes us out of control, and into the zany. A series of characters show up at the door including an estranged family member, an ex-employee, a mobster, and the list goes on. Combine that with the list of disasters that threaten to destroy the house and its contents. Along the way we manage to throw jokes at every possible demographic group. What results is a crazy comedy that delivers plenty of laughs. While it's downright silly at several points, I enjoyed the mindless fun along the way.

Overall Grade: B+

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In this fourth part of the Harry Potter franchise, we have the usual cast of characters mixed up with the magical touch.

This is of course adapted from JK Rowling's runaway successful series of Harry Potter novels. In case you've been in Antartica for the last decade, the Harry Potter series traces the development of eleven year old Harry into a full fledged wizard. Each book or movie recounts a year's worth of events.

When I watch a movie based on a novel, it often leaves me wondering why they simply couldn't follow the already successful novel. However, The Goblet of Fire is quite a lengthy novel. This movie adaptation successfully pares it down to a more manageable two and a half hours.

The plot centers around a competition known as the Triwizard Tournament. Of course, our favorite teenage wizard ends up in the thick of the action. There is also the requisite visit from the evil Lord Voldemort. As the children are growing up there is also an awkward dance that shows a more humanistic side of the characters.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is not a mere children's movie. Any fan of the Harry Potter novels, or epic fantasy will enjoy the fourth episode of this unique franchise.

Overall Grade: A

Match Point

There Are No Little Secrets

My major disclaimer for this review is that I am not a fan of Woody Allen movies. Still, Match Point does not have Woody acting (or is that whining?) in it, so I decided to give it a try.

Match Point tells the story of a tennis pro who came from the lower class, and now intermingles with the country club upper class. Before long, he is romantically involved with a high society woman. He uses this to get him a job in business, and marries into the family.

While he has gotten himself out of the lower class, it hasn't gotten out of him. A romantic side interest turns into a full blown affair. It then becomes a tale to see how far he will go to protect his torrid secrets, and what price his family will pay. We also have the themes of social class, and class mobility intertwining.

Match Point was less prototypically "Woody Allenish" than his other works. It does work as a film, although it is quite serious throughout. Those looking for a well acted, serious adult drama will likely enjoy Match Point.

Overall Grade: B

The Codex

The Preston and Child novels can best be described as archaelogical thrillers taking us on adventure to far away lands. In The Codex, author Douglas Preston solos to write us quite a quest.

The theme is definitely Mayan, and much of the novel takes place in Central American jungles. This novel has a similar feel to Thunderhead in that it involves a quest into a very isolated area far from civilization and human contact.

Unlike Thunderhead, or Riptide, there is a new twist. Instead of one team on a treasure hunt, we end up with three in competition. You see, Maxwell Broadbent has accumulated half a billion dollars of treasure. Rather than leave it to his underachieving sons outright, he decides to stash it in a lost Mayan city. This way, the sons will have to work together to earn the money. With greed in their eyes, the sons are off to race to find the treasure, and not even close to any cooperation.

The Codex refers to an ancient manuscript of Mayan medicine. It is potentially the single most valuable treasure of the collection. This ancient pharmaceutical tome has potential to revolutionize modern medicine with hundreds of new drugs from the rainforest that are unknown in current times.

As the adventure progresses, there are plenty of twists and turns, as well as some surprises as we head further into the jungle. The Codex is well written and progresses at near breakneck speed for the entire novel. There is also plenty of symbolism that adds to the overall richness of the novel.

If you've enjoyed Preston's (and Child's) previous novels, then The Codex certainly fits in well with them. If you haven't taken the opportunity yet, then I highly recommend them. While the solo efforts are non sequential, the coauthored ones are easier to enjoy in order.

Overall Grade: A


Also Reviewed:
Thunderhead
Mount Dragon

Harv, Polka Raggioso (NorthSide, 2005)

Last year, the band Harv followed up its excellent album Töst! with Polka Raggioso, another collection of mostly original tunes rooted in the Swedish fiddling tradition. Founding members Magnus Stinnerbom (viola and accordion) and Daniel Sandén-Warg (fiddle) were augmented for this CD by percussionist Christian Svennsson and new guitarist David Tallroth. Harv have essentially assumed the role, created by Väsen when they became a quartet and abdicated by them when they reverted to being a trio, of Sweden's leading proponents of aggressive, percussion-driven fiddle music. As a result, purists will probably not care for their sound so much, while those drawn to contemporary Nordic folk music for the way it exploits the edginess inherent in the tradition will like this a lot.

Polka Raggioso picks up right where Töst! left off, with a lot of brisk instrumentals composed primarily by Stinnerbom in a variety of styles. "Grythyttehyl" matches the power of the best tracks on Töst!, and sets the tone for Polka Raggioso quite nicely. "Direktör Deg," already availble from NorthSide as the title track of an EP from earlier in 2005, maintains the momentum. Fans of more purely traditional Swedish music criticize the use of percussion for drowning out the subtleties in polska rhythms, though, and such an argument can be made over this tune. The polka medley "Sockertöj/Ja Dä Gör Vi" features Stinnerbom's first appearance on record playing the accordion, and has a distinctively Cajun feel. The mellower polskas "Tösen" and "Titania" were both composed for theatrical productions, and are considered by the band to be the "chick hits" on the album. The title tune features a very odd key shift from A-major to F-major, but the band makes it sound perfectly natural.

As with previous Harv discs, the playing is tight and solid throughout Polka Raggioso, and the music is fun to listen to. However, while the band does add a couple of new twists with the addition of the accordion and a couple of prominent polkas, a lot of the new material is essentially indistinguishable from what they've done previously. For all the energy and good playing, I couldn't help feeling a sense of "been there, done that" while listening to a few of the tracks on this disc. It's hard to be too critical, though, given that Harv have created a sound that for the most part works very well for them.

Overall grade: B+



Reprinted with permission from The Green Man Review
Copyright 2006 The Green Man Review

The New World

I generally like a movie that is an historical drama. What could be better than The New World which is based on the first permanent settlement in America, Jamestown? In short, just about anything else.

The New World is quite confusing. It takes a true art form to take a story that all school age children know, namely the relationship of John Smith and Pochahontas at early Jamestown, and obscure it to the point of unrecognizable. At times, it was completely unclear what the plot was, even though we all know the tale!

Couple this with a complete lack of dialogue at many points. The New World makes the Indians seem unintelligent and savage by having with minimal communication, and fewer subtitles. The richness of the Native Americans and their culture simply never comes through. Also, the fact that they saved the Jamestown colonists from starvation is glossed over quickly. They also didn't bother getting the historical details right as they showed a stockade in the center of Jamestown which apparently it didn't have. A five minute trip through Google was infinitely more interesting than the tw0 plus hours of pain this movie involved.

The film drags like a slug across a concrete parking lot in mid day heat. We learn nothing of the new world of America, or come to any greater understanding. This topic has great potential, and the film could be renamed "A Very Fictional Account of Pochahontas." In my view, The New World deserves our lowest grade, and the first failure I have awarded to anything.

Those viewers looking for a better movie on this topic should try Disney's Pochahontas. Even with the singing racoon, it is more entertaining, and historically accurate.

Overall Grade: F

The Chronicles of Narnia

Some journeys take us far from home. Some adventures lead us to our destiny.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe endeavors to be the next great fantasy epic serial, like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, it falls a little short of those high benchmarks.

The premise is based on a mysterious wardrobe that is a portal to the far away land of Narnia. Here there are lions that talk, and an evil ice princess among other fantasy characters. Our unlikely travelers through the wardrobe are four siblings that are in exile from London during the WW II Battle of Britain aerial bombing campaign.

A film like this lives or dies by its special effects and The Chronicles of Narnia delivers in this department. Everything looked realistic, and all of the various speaking creatures were beautifully rendered in a realistic fashion.

So what's the movie lacking? The whole plot seemed a little thin. A character comes back from death with no apparent explanation. An imprisoned child gets released for no reason. On top of this, Narnia just doesn't feel epic enough.

This first installment of The Chronicles of Narnia is a decent enough film, just don't compare it to The Lord of the Rings.

Overall Grade: B+

National Security

They only look like cops.

National Security stars Martin Lawrence. This is, quite frankly, the funniest police movie since Police Academy.

Martin Lawrence plays the cop's cop- who gets thrown out of the police academy before graduating. Next thing we know, he's working as a security guard for a firm of the movie's name. Through a series of events, he ends up trying to crack the case that most plice officers wait a lifetime for.

There's plenty of action here including shoot outs, and car chases galore. This movie really stands out for Lawence's comedic timing and witty comments. While this isn't the most recent film, it's worth a rental if you want 90 minutes of mindless humor.

Overall Grade: B+