Staff Picks Reviewer: Jason

Live at the Star Club Hamburg by Jerry Lee Lewis [Music CD]

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Live albums are always tricky; sure, a lot of your favorite songs appear on the track listing, but often the magic isn’t quite there. Artists often issue live recordings as an inexpensive way to fulfill contracts with their record labels. A certain magic can be missing from the original studio recording or you’re just left with poor sound quality.

Live at the Star Club Hamburg happens to be one of the exceptions to this trend. Backed by the Nashville Teens, Jerry Lee Lewis delivers one of the fiercest live concerts that has ever been captured on tape. The piano, much like the drums, is an instrument where physicality can be a variable. A musician’s force has much to do with the overall sound. Jerry Lee, sounding possessed (and possibly a little in the bag), pounds like a piano with fury and rage like it’s his last night to raise hell on Earth.

For some context, it’s 1964 and the the British Invasion is in full force. The Beatles had taken Hamburg by storm a couple of years back. Army stints, jail time, religious conversion and death put an end to most of the original 1950’s rockers. The Killer also had his share of controversy when he married his 13 year old cousin while still legally bound to another woman. The days of chart topping hits probably seemed like a distant past.

What does Jerry Lee do then? Well, he heads out to a small stage in Hamburg and plays one of the most aggressive sets ever heard. The crowd is in a frenzy throughout his set chanting “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!” while he rolls over songs that were personal hits like “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and popular favorites of his contemporaries such as “Long Tall Sally”, “Matchbox” and “Hound Dog”. Essentially, he’s delivering a similar song selection as the Liverpudlians brought with them to Germany; only Lewis is far more aggressive and is perhaps trying to prove that he’s an original rocker.

Fans of 50’s rock n’ roll will certainly enjoy this record. I also feel comfortable recommending Live at the Star Club Hamburg to fans of more raw groups like the Stooges or the MC5.

Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience [Music CD]

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You find yourself alone, lying in a field of flowers. You’ve just been awoken by the distant pounding of what sounds like a tympani. Looking ahead, your feet seem miles away and a group of bunnies are gnawing on your blue jeans. Jimi once rapped, “Ho hum. I’m as good as bunnies- and you know how good bunnies are.” Just shake ‘em off, brother or sister; they’re just hungry after a long, hot summer night. The drum fades and nature, and in fact everything you hear as well, is moving backward. Fear not, you’re in Electric Ladyland, friend. Have you ever been?

Take out that note from your back pocket. No matter the urge to call the telephone number written on there, trust me, you don’t want to see Little Miss Strange again. Rip it to shreds.

Spend the next fifteen minutes drying yourself off from the still raining, still dreaming sky with the Experience in concert, floating somewhere in the the astral plane. “Voodoo Chile” is the jam. Look left and see a Marshall stack and a white Fender Strat resting comfortably. It’s been tuned and awaiting on you, man. Put the strap on over your shoulder (and make sure you’re going lefty), pick the open A-string (that’s the second heaviest on the axe), let it ring and move on over toward the amplifier. Things will start buzzing and feeding back some brilliant musical colors and waveforms. Mitch and Noel should be launching off that any minute now.

A singular door will appear in the middle of the field somewhere behind you. Open it and look out into outer-space with those Gypsy eyes. Grab the burning midnight lamp, step out and be mindful of the crosstown traffic. Mr. Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” is your soundtrack… and your guide, baby.

Keep the sounds of Electric Ladyland steady and you’ll find your way.

Black Books [DVD]

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Irish comedian Dylan Moran stars in the BBC television series Black Books. The show was written and created by Moran and the folks who brought us Father Ted.

Bernard Black, a cranky and boozy book shop owner, wants absolutely nothing to do with his customers and does very little to aid his decaying store. He’s joined by his friend and neighboring shop employee, Fran and Manny, his hapless, but loveable (possibly unpaid) employee. We join these three on many madcap adventures and exercises in generally poor customer service. While a fair amount the gags fall under the customer/employee dynamic or displays of tremendous laziness, we also get a fair amount of surreal humor.

The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman [Book]

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The sometimes actor, television presenter/personality, unlicensed internet judge and humorist, John Hodgman, has a brilliant collection of nonsense in the universe called The Areas of My Expertise. Fear not, his writings do not simply float in the nebulous; it’s all compiled in a BOOK!

In it we find delightful and ridiculous made up facts and anecdotes concerning hobos (he provides 700 hobo names), werewolves and various bizarre historical factoids. It’s also filled with entertaining lists (“Nine Presidents Who Had Hooks For Hands”) and dubious advice (see the amusing section on effective attack ads or “How To Win a Fight” ). This book is excess at its best.

ps- If you enjoy this volume, there’s more.

The Purple Rose of Cairo [DVD]

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“You make love without fading out?” – Tom Baxter

The Purple Rose of Cairo is possibly my favorite Woody Allen film of all time… or perhaps tied with a couple other of his classics. In it we have some of his sharpest comedic screenwriting and a few concepts that will keep philosophy 101 students in discussion for decades to come.

It stars Mia Farrow as Cecilia, a woman struggling to support herself and her abusive, gambling and out of work husband (played by Danny Aiello) during the great depression. Her only escape from this drudgery is regular visits to the local cinema. When the lights dim, she gets whisked away in stories of adventure, romance and carefree living.

She particularly is enamored with the film the Purple Rose of Cairo (the film within our film!). Cecilia makes repeated trips to catch the Purple Rose and watches the story of bubbly society folk on an Egyptian expedition. After several viewings, she starts to notice slight inconsistencies with one of the character’s performance. Tom Baxter, played by Jeff Daniels, seems to be losing his timing and is possibly looking off into the audience. Eventually, he breaks character and talks to Cecilia from the screen. She nervously replies and Baxter walks out of the film and materializes in the theater.

The two dash off in a heap of commotion and the ex-film character appears to be the ideal romantic partner despite naïveté in real world dealings. His knowledge base consists of what was written for his character. For example, when dining, the couple are embarrassed to discover that Baxter’s cash supply is simply prop money.

Eventually, a surreal love triangle… or better yet, love square forms. When Gil Shepherd (also played by Jeff Daniels), the actor who portrayed Baxter, discovers that his character has left the film, he heads to New Jersey to convince his creation to re-enter The Purple Rose of Cairo. Whilst attempting to salvage his reputation and make everything go back to normal, Shepherd then falls for our leading lady. Does Cecilia leave her husband? Does she run off with the brave and compassionate, but fictional Tom Baxter? Or does she chose Gil Shepherd, the dashing and vain movie star?

Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg [Music CD]

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The master melodist and provocateur, Serge Gainsbourg introduced a revolutionary recording with 1971’s Histoire de Melody Nelson. The French pop star abandoned an archetypal singing style in place of a soft and nearly spoken word delivery. This was achieved by the singer’s smokey, baritone voice captured by close microphone placement. The music behind this voice is expressive and experimental with shades of psychedelia. Groovy (and yes, there’s really no other way of putting it) electric bass lines, freak out fuzz guitar and busy drums supply the basic tracks that are augmented by a choral and haunting string score by Jean-Claude Vannier.

Jane Birkin, Gainsbourg’s then wife, appears on the front cover and also provides the voice of Melody Nelson. You see, this is a concept record. It tells a Lolita-esque tale of a middle-aged man out driving who accidentally hits a bicycling British girl. The man falls in love with his victim and a love affair follows. Melody soon decides to fly home and the man, now devastated, performs an African Cargo Cult ritual to make his love return. His desperation proves to be tragic as he discovers that this act of mysticism caused an airplane crash.

The songs of Serge Gainsbourg, and the Melody Nelson album in particular, have inspired many musicians including Air, Jarvis Cocker, Beck, Portishead, Sean Lennon and the Divine Comedy. Rarely has the marriage of lyrical ingenuity and musical arrangement been achieved in popular music.

The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [Graphic Novel]

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I.N.J Culbard illustrates Ian Edginton’s adaption of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four. This graphic novel takes on the second Sherlock Holmes story in which the famed detective and Doctor Watson must locate a mysterious stolen treasure. Holmes applies his trademark acute deductive reasoning skills while sprinkling in impatient and acerbic comments to all those within an earshot.

Being a longtime admirer of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, seeing the tale presented as a graphic novel is a quite a treat.

The Red Shoes [DVD]

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The Red Shoes is a visually stunning dramatic work about a ballet company led by the ruthless and contentious, but often charming director Boris Lermontov. Lermontov discovers dancer Vicky Page (portrayed by famed English ballet star Moira Shearer) at a society party and realizes her unparalleled potential. Before signing her to his company she must decide what role dancing plays in her life. Is it a passion she pursues or shall it consume her entirely? Can an artist love anything or anyone more than their craft? These conflicts becomes the underlying theme of the picture.

The Hans Christian Andersen story of The Red Shoes is the source in which the main ballet within the film is based. Instead of just viewing the performance from the theater audience’s perspective, Powell and Pressburger take the camera’s inside the action for a breathtaking, 17-minute sequence. We follow Page closely via dolly shots through various enormous, painted set pieces, close-ups of dancers movements and expressions and rich colored lights. The co-directors also chose to allow fantasy to be a part of the stage presentation as well with tasteful in camera visual effects.

The Red Shoes, which melodrama and beauty reach unbelievable heights, is a remarkable achievement in cinema.

True Grit by Charles Portis [Book]

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After learning that I was a fan of the recent True Grit film the Coen Brothers released in 2010, a co-worker told me that the novel which it was based is an essential read. This recommendation certainly did not disappoint.

The story takes place in the West at the close of the 19th century. It’s narrated by Mattie Ross, who shares her story of a quest to avenge the death of her father when she was just fourteen. She searches for a man with “true grit” who is up to the task of hunting down the killer. Mattie is exceptionally shrewd, fearless and also has an advanced understanding of law and finances. Traveling on her own, she finds and hires a heavy drinking, dirty, eye-patch wearing, cursing, aging bounty hunter named Roger “Rooser” Cogburn. Mattie and Cogburn are later joined by a Texas Ranger by the name of LaBoeuf. The three set out on the trail of murderer Tom Chaney.

True Grit is a real page turner of an adventure novel where stakeouts and gun fights are standard fare. Author Charles Portis also chooses to use a great deal of humor in the storytelling thanks to the wild Cogburn his constant one-upmanship between he and LaBoeuf. There’s also the constant reminder that the young Mattie is more educated and sensible at fourteen than any characters in the story.

Spooked by Robyn Hitchcock [Music CD]

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In 2004, Robyn Hitchcock recorded one of his finest albums with folkster heroes Gilllian Welch and David Rawlings. The trio set up shop in Nashville, TN and created this very sparse and absorbing recording. The album is filled with rich textured harmonies, picking acoustic guitars and a refreshing amount of open space. Though mostly an acoustic record, the album also features spots of electric piano, minimal drums, electric sitar for psychedelic touches and Eastern flavor and a couple electric bass guest spots by NRBQ man Joey Spampinato.

On the dobro led “We’re Gonna Live in the Trees”, Hitchcock’s famed clever lyrics bounce the literary reference of Virginia Woolf had a troubled mind, it was never at ease with the song’s title/refrain. He also shows a softer side with the slow and outer-spacey “English Girl”. Her skin was clear and her mum wore pearls/I fell in love with an English girl/ She asked me for an almond whirl/ I was obliged to the English girl.
Robyn Hitchcock is one of the few recording artists whose catalog has remained consistently inspired throughout a lengthy career. Spooked, in particular, stands out from his recent output due to the stunning contributions from Welch and Rawlings.

Head by Bob Rafelson [DVD]

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Although, in 1968 the film proved to be an immense commercial failure, Head has become a cult classic and an excellent artifact in the colored history of the Monkees. Rafelson continued his maverick approach to cinema and is now considered one of the most revered directors and producers of the “New Hollywood” generation.

While Mortals Sleep by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. [Book]

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In his touching preface, writer Dave Eggars refers to Kurt Vonnegut Jr. as a “hippie Mark Twain”. Never has Vonnegut’s appeal been described so accurately. While Mortals Sleep features unpublished, short fiction pieces by the Slaughterhouse- Five, Breakfast of Champions and Cats Cradle author. This is the second posthumously released collection (the first being Look At the Birdie) and it focuses solely on the author’s early work before receiving literary notoriety. In these stories, we get a preview of themes and tones that will exist later in his most famous writings: mainly bizarro science fiction and his select brand of acerbic wit and humor (this is where we mostly relate his Twain influence).