I AM A MEDIA MAXI-PAD ABSORBING THE CONTINUAL FLOW OF POP CULTURE.
THIS JOURNAL DOCUMENTS MY INTAKE OF ONE BOOK, ZINE, CD OR DVD A DAY. RATINGS ARE: ***** = Godhead, **** = Great, *** = Good, ** = Fair, * = Why Bother?
(Wordless review of these wordless graphic novels:)
OK, I can't resist...here's the synopsis of this essential read from the back cover:
"The power of a story told through images lies in its universality. It can be read anywhere by anyone, regardless of langauage, making it an ideal medium for social commentary and criticism. Four rare wordless are reproduced here, by some of the greatest woodcut artists from the first half of the 20th century, as a testament to their roles as graphic witnesses. The stories they tell reflect the political and social isues of their times: economic depression, social injustice, war and fear of nucler annilhilation. While the context my hve changed, the issues, sadly, remain relevnt today."
I'm late to the party, not discovering Sleeper until I picked up a sampler CD for Rhino's 4-CD Brit Box compilation of late '80s to '90s Britpop indie shoegazer bands at a neighborhood yard sale around the corner. One of my favorite tracks on it was "Sale of the Century" by the hitherto unknown Sleeper. Investigating further, I learned that they had eight UK Top 40 hit singles and three UK Top 10 hit albums but only made a blip on the stateside music radar when they covered Blondies' "Atomic" on the Trainspotting soundtrack (after Blondie refused to allow their version to be used). I saw that movie, but still no recognition, so I found their first two albums on eBAY and picked them up for the ridiculously low price of no more than $2 or $3 each - including postage! (They also recorded a third LP, 1997's Please To Meet You, but I haven't picked that up yet.)
I'm here to report that if you liked Elastica, you'll love Sleeper. In fact, you won't be blamed if you listen to "Inbetweener" and swear it's an Elastica tune. Elastica was three girls and a guy, while Sleeper was three guys and a girl (a polarity kind of like, locally, Baltimore's Thee Katatonix and D.C.'s The Pin-Ups - but with talent!). But both bands were fronted by talented femme chanteuses. Everyone knows Elastica's Justine Frischmann, who was not only the front femme for Elastica but also famously dated both Suede's Brett Anderson and Blur's Damon Alburn. But you've probably never heard of Sleeper's Louise Wener, who these days makes her living as a (quite popular) novelist.
Louise Wener: A Stunner and a Strummer
But if you like the '90s Britpop sound of Blur, Oasis, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Pulp, Echobelly, et al, you should really like Sleeper. (BTW, Sleeper opened for Blur during the 1995 Parklife tour.)
Though 1995's Smart sold over 100,000 copies and included the early indie singles "Delicious" and "Swallow" - and the later high-placing "Inbetweener" (#16 UK Charts) and "Vegas" (#33, featuring Blur's Graham Coxhon on saxophone - and a personal fave with its line about "he lives in a flat, islands of crap" that reminds me of my own dense domicile) and the early Nirvana/grunge-influenced "Alice In Vain" - the next year's platinum-selling sophomore effort The It Girl represents the band's best work, with their guitar-driven sound augmented by tastefully restrained synth and keyboard accents. Produced by Stephen Street (famous for his work with The Smiths, Morrissey and Blur) it included the standout "Sale of the Century" (which was their biggest single success at #10 on the UK charts) as well as "Nice Guy Eddie" (also #10 UK Charts), "What Do I Do Now?", the snarky "Lie Detector" (from whence comes the Clara Bow "It Girl" reference that the album takes it title from), "Statuesque" (another Trainspotting soundtrack song; it's included on the Trainspotting #2 CD) - and the wonderful "Stop Your Crying." The difference between Smart and The It Girl is comparable to the change between Oasis' Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? A clear jump.
According to Wikipedia, singer/guitarist Louise Wener, like Justine Frischmann, was one of Britpop's biggest female stars, placing highly in Melody Maker's and NME's "Sexiest Woman" polls several years running. The other band members - the so-called "Sleeperblokes" - were guitarist/keyboardist Jon Stewart, bassist Diid Osman and drummer Andy Maclure. Sideman John Green also played keys/synth for the band live and in studio. Wener and Stewart met in while living in Manchester, adding the rhythm section when Sleeper relocated to London in the early '90s.
Louise and the Sleeperblokes
By the way, Wener was born in Ilford, East London, and thus is a fan of the football team West Ham United.
Sleeper released its third album, the string- and horn-laden over-production Pleased To Meet You in September 1997, but the album's first single "She's a Good Girl" tanked on the charts and the end was nigh. In his definitive chronicle Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock (2004), author John Harris quotes Wener's reaction to the single's failure: "I knew we were as good as done for. I can remember walking down Oxford Street, looking at everyone, thinking, 'I'm back in the throng.' I had no illusions that anything else was going to happen. We did TFI Friday that week, when we knew for sure, and I was drinking from midday onwards...I was in the men's loo of this curry house, just lying down, puking. There I was, knowing my whole career was over."
A novel approach to post-rock stardom
Sleeper split up in 1998, right around the time Britpop waned as a musical genre.("It happened to us and we thought we'd be the only ones," Wener recalled, "But then everyone started to go, so that was kind of satisfying."). Wener then began her 'second act' in showbiz, re-inventing herself as a novelist. Wener has written four novels: Goodnight Steve McQueen, The Big Blind (retitled The Perfect Play), The Half Life of Stars and Worldwide Adventures In Love. According to Wikipedia, she also teaches poker courses(!) and is in a new band called Huge Advance with partner Andy Maclure.
Wener can also be seen as an interviewee in the 2003 Britpop documentary Live Forever though, regretably, her own band isn't covered (while, aggravatingly, the decidely non-Britpop Massive Attack is! I mean, Britpop was about guitars and Massive Attack is not about guitars! Ack!)
Louise Wener in LIVE FOREVER
Sleeper is a band that more than lived up to its name, flying well under the radar and being criminally neglected despite its solid contribution to a defining British musical genre of the early to mid-'90s. So wake up Britpop fans and seek these albums out!
Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb USA, 1964, 93 minutes, b&w Directed by Stanley Kubrick Screenplay by Terry Southern (from a novel by Peter George) Cast: Peter Sellers (Group Captain Lionel Mandrake/President Merkin Muffley/Dr. Strangelove), George C. Scott (Gen. 'Buck' Turgidson), Sterling Hayden (Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper), Keenan Wynn (Col. 'Bat' Guano), Slim Pickens (Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong), Peter Bull (Russian Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky)
My girlfriend had never seen Dr. Strangelove, so we went to the Charles Theatre revival screening Saturday to correct that sin of omission. It's strange to think that almost 45 years after its release Kubrick's film is still amazingly relevant - and Terry Southern's cynical script about mad idealists in politics and the military not that far of a stretch from current events thanks to the Bush Adminstration. At one point in the film, Peter Sellers' American President character Merkin Muffley assures his Soviet Union counterpart, "Dimitri, you know the United States would never launch a pre-emptive attack!" The statement's unmistakable parallel with the 2003 invasion of Iraq caused the crowd to roar with cynical laughter. Kudos to George W. Bush for making an outlandish and fictitious black comedy a very unhumorous and stark reality.
Ruang Rak Noi Nid Mahasan (เรื่องรัก น้อยนิด มหาศาล) Thailand, 2003, 112 minutes, color Directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang Written by Prabda Yoon & Pen-Ek Ratanaruang Cinematography by Christopher Doyle Cast: Tadanobu Asano (Kenji), Sinitta Boonyasak (Noi), Laila Boonyasak (Nid), Takashi Miike (Yakuza boss)
“One day the lizard woke up and realized that it was all alone on this earth.”
Feeling depressed, I rewatched this film last night and its beauty perked me up. After Blade Runner, this is probably my second favorite film of all time. What's it about? I'm not good with plot synopses, so here's an excellent one from FilmsAsia.com's Soh Yun-Huei:
"Kenji (Tadanobu Asano) is an obsessively neat Japanese man who is living on his own in Bangkok, and earning a living by being a librarian at the Japanese Cultural Centre. A look through his house would reveal exactly how meticulous Kenji is -- all his belongings are organized by size, shape, colour, day to be worn, and so on. Kenji has also been contemplating suicide for some time, and fantasizing about what his death would be like. His orderly life is thrown into disarray when his estranged Yakuza brother turns up at his doorstep, seemingly on the run from his big boss. However, that's far from the only incident that will shake up Kenji's life. An unfortunate series of events leads Kenji to become acquainted with a woman called Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak), who's basically his antithesis. She's disorganized, messy, and does not worry about the finer details, and when Kenji ends up at her beachside house, his obsessive-compulsive nature kicks in and he offers to tidy up the place. Gradually, a romance develops between Kenji and Noi, despite their differences and a language barrier."
So much for plot, though that doesn't begin to describe the depth and meaning of this film which is felt more than understood. For each time I watch it, I learn and notice more. I think it takes several viewings to "see" certain films, and this is certainly one of them. I never noticed the Ichi the Killer movie poster in the opening shot - an "inside joke" because it's a film by Takashi Miike starring Tadanobu Asano, both of whom appear in the film. I never noticed Yukio Mishima's novel Black Lizard on Asano's bookshelf. And I never noticed (until I studied the credits) that the film's sisters Nid and Noi are played by real-life sisters: Laila Boonyasak (Nid) and Sinitta Boonyasak (Noi).
Sister Act: Laila (center) and Sinitta Boonyasak (right)
But seeing and fully understanding are not the same thing, as Last Life in the Universe still leaves one with many questions. Namely, is Kenji a yakuza (we see one shot of his tattooed back)? Is that his gun or his brother's? Does he sleep with Noi (it's only suggested but we get no in flagrante delecto proof). Why can't he go back to Osaka? Does he get the girl in the end or is that only a fantasy? What does the fantasy sequence when a stoned Noi watches all the clutter in her house - flying papers and detritus - get cleaned up via reverse editing? Does he get away at the end or is it merely just another fantasy, like the visions he has of Noi's dead sister Nid?
Kenji keeps a spotless kitchen
Though I recently screened another Thai film (Tears of the Black Tiger) at my library film series, Last Life in the Universe remains my favorite Thai film and Pen-Ek Ratanaruang my favorite Thai director. Maybe it's because of the cinematography by Christopher Doyle, whose work here and with Hong's Kong's Wong Kar-Wai (In the Mood for Love, 2046) give gravitas to my considering him the world's best director of photography.
Speaking of images, those of lizards and geckos abound in last Life in the Universe. A gecko is a permanent fixture on the wall at Noi's house.
This gecko is not as chatty as Geico's
Noi's gecko keeps cool by the ceiling fan
A copy of Yukio Mishima's novel Black Lizard is clearly shown on Kenji's bookshelf. And Kenji is obsessed with a children's book called The Last Lizard, obviously identifying with the cool, aloof, lonely reptile.
Kenji's book: THE LAST LIZARD
In a voiceover, Kenji narrates the book's text as he stands on a bridge contemplating jumping into the river below:
The lizard wakes up and finds he's the last lizard alive. His family and friends are all gone. Those he didn't like, those who picked on him in school, are also gone. The lizard is all alone. He misses his family and friends. Even his enemies. It's better being with your enemies than being alone. That's what he thought. Staring at the sunset, he thinks. "What is the point in living, if I don't have anyone to talk to?" But even that thought doesn't mean anything...when you're the last lizard."
The lizard's tale is reprised in the film's trailer:
The cool, aloof Tadanobu Asano gives what is for me his greatest performance as the quiet, anal-compulsive neatnik librarian Kenji who's constantly trying to "off" himself like Bud Cort in Harold & Maude.
Thai film poster made for hanging
He's almost other-wordly in his unassuming pureness, like Prince Myshkin in Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. As a card-carrying librarian myself, I want to be him because he's the coolest librarian ever depicted in film. And not only is he polite and clean, but he's very can-do when it comes to killing bad people or defending women from being roughed-up - admirable qualities for today's multi-skilled Librarians 3.0. Kenji is obsessed with a children's book about the last Lizard on earth, the lizard being as quiet and aloof a reptile as Kenji appears on the surface.
And, of course, I was quite taken with the lovely Sinitta Boonyasak, the "someone to talk to" who gives Kenji's life purpose and saves him from being "the last lizard on Earth." (Or does she?)
Still as a gecko: Quiet moments define the film's tone
As a couple, Kenji and Noi are The Odd Couple, complete opposites. She is as messy, cluttered and unfocused as Kenji is compulsively neat (he has to arrange all the soap bars in the men's room at work in symmetrical stacks and line up all his kitchen knifes in a straight line) and orderly. She's a relaxed stoner, he's unfailingly uptight and sober. And when she talks, she can be chatty, talking quickly in the rapid-fire bursts of a bar girl, whereas Kenji is never more than a monosyllabic converser.
I loved the film's minimalist tone and dialogue - according to a DVD interview with director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, famous Thai writer Prabda Yoon (his first name is Thai for Pravda, the Russian word for "truth") - whose dad was a famous Thai journalist - helped strip the screenplay down to this surreal, dreamy still-life tone full of long silences. No one says a whole lot in the film, especially the tongue-tied Kenji. I ran across a website where dedicated fan Drew of Drew's Script-O-Rama actually transcribed the entire script (!): Last Life in the Universe Dialogue Script.
As FilmsAsia.com's Soh Yun-Huei observes, "Much of Last Life in the Universe deals with the romance that forms between Kenji and Nid, who are both loners not used to reaching out to others. Perhaps due to the characters' quirks, Pen-Ek has taken a very detached approach in his direction, almost similar to Takeshi Kitano's films." Huei also rightly points out the film's similarity to Lost In Translation, another film about love, loss and alienation in a land in which both protagonists are outsiders. But I think Pen-Ek's film is better and more rewarding upon repeated viewings. For one thing, the language barrier is even more pronounced here. "Kenji and Noi do not speak each other's languages, so they turn to a fractured English to communicate, and Pen-Ek manages to flesh out the difficulties that the situation brings about."
I'd also like to find the soundtrack, which uses ambient electric piano to augment the long silent patches with a dream-like calmness.
Last Life in the Universe's creative trio of writer Prabda Yoon, cinematographer Christopher Doyle and actor Tadanobu Asano also teamed up for Pen-ek's next film, Invisible Waves (2006), so if you like the first collaboration, check it out. Unfortunately, it hasn't been released in the States, so unless you have an All-Region DVD player or want to watch it on your PC...
Score of the week from the library - and yes, I picked it up because of the cutesy cover! (Full disclosure: I am every bit as glib and shallow as I appear to be.) Compiled by Alan Bishop and Mark Gergis for Seattle's Sublime Frequencies label (sublimefrequencies.com), it's basically Thai music for Westerners who want to hear Thais trying to sound Western. Kind of like Bollywood kitsch. Though it starts out sounding slightly traditional, with songs addressing topics like "Magical Love of the Countryside" and "Papaya Salad Merchant" things start to pick up by the time of the Johnny Guitar instrumental "Fawn Ngeo (Dance of the Ngeo)" - Ngeo are Northern Thais of Burmese origin - and get very weird as the tracks progress. Like Chailai Chaiyata & Swana Patana's "Kwuan Tai Duew Luk Puen (You Should Die By Bullets)," which opens with electronic beeps and blips before merging into a disco toe-tapper with horns straight out of the chase sequence on a 70s TV cop show. Weirder still is Gawao Siangthong's "Gao Guek (Wise Old Man)," wherein the singer actually uses belches for syncopated percussion!
The group Generation's "Nan nan Pob Gan Tee (Long Time No See)" sounds like it comes from a Thai film soundtrack (like Shaft Goes To Bangkok, if such a film existed!), all wacka-wacka guitars and wah-wah pedal. Similarly, Kabuan Garn Yor Yod Yung Yong attempt some funk stylings on "Gang Geng Nai Krai Lab," a title translated here as "Look Whose Underwear Is Showing." This should probably be the official anthem of Bangkok's Patpong red-light district.
Thong Sung Blue: "Look Whose Underwear Is Showing"
But the song that gets the most attention on the compilation is Pairoj's "Khor Tan Gor Mee Hua Jai," a decidedly bizarre Thai cover version of Brit two-hit wonder band Paper Lace's 1974 hit "The Night Chicago Died." (Though "The Night Chicago Died" was their only U.S. #1 hit, Paper Lace's anti-war protest song "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" was a UK #1 in 1974.)
Paper Lace gets Thai-Died
Other standouts: Phet Potaram's trilly-voice backed by snake-charmer horns sounds very Bollywood on the delightful "Koh Phuket (Phuket Island)"
The only track I can't stomach is Man City Lion's "Tid Lom Ta lai (Drinking Whiskey Until I'm Blurred)" because the singer's high-pitched affected voice is annoying beyond belief. And am I the only one who envisions the Manchester City football club when they see this Thai group's name?
CD track listing:
1. Introduction - Welcome To Thailand 2. Roob Lor Thom Pai - Buppah Saichol 3. Mae Kha Som Tum - Onuma Singsiri 4. Lung Dee Kee Mao - P. Promdan 5. Fawn Ngeo - Johnny Guitar 6. Kwuan Tai Duew Luk Puen - Chailai Chaiyata 7. Dek Kai Nuang Sue Pim - Sangthong Seesai 8. Gao Guek - Gawao Siangthong 9. Tid Lom Ta Lai - Man City Lion 10. Mai Na Lork Gun - Kampee Sangthong 11. Nan Nan Pob Gan Tee - Generation 12. Koh Phuket - Phet Potaram 13. Gang Geng Nai Krai Lab - Kabuan Garn Yor Yod Yung Yong 14. Khor Tan Gor Mee Hua Jai - Pairoj 15. Sao Dok Kum Tai - Pumpuang Duangjan 16. Tangkon Tangnae - Sangthong Seesai 17. Keng Ma - P. Promdan 18. Na Doo - Man City Lion 19. Dteuu - Setha 20. Mia Rai Duen - Duongdao 21. Pleng Show (Title Theme) - Chalermpon Malakum
Product description from sublimefrequencies.com:
Thai pop history has been largely ignored and neglected by the international musical community for far too long. By the late 20th century, Thai pop music had developed as many faces as localized roots music such as Molam or styles like Luk Thung or Luk Krung, (each with their own respective pop-sectors). Bangkok – always the hub of the Thai recording industry – attracted musicians and singers from across the country that were both informed by tradition and inspired by the wealth of international sounds entering the region via radio and phonograph. Jazz, for instance, had a profound influence on early Thai pop music, the King of Thailand himself being a noted Jazz composer.
This superb collection features modern Thai music styles combining with elements of surf, rock, funk, disco and comedy, revealing the use of clever instrumentation, brilliant vocals, great arrangements, twisted breaks, and resourceful production techniques. Discover the Queen of Luk Thung, the 1960s “Shadow Music” sound, classic tracks from Thai films, blazing examples of Bangkok disco from the 1970s, legendary Thai comedy Pop, and the most outrageous version of "The Night Chicago Died" you'll ever encounter. Thick horn sections, wah-wah guitars, tight drums, and funky organs help round out this astounding set which proves beyond a doubt that the Thai were a completely unique and powerful force during the 1960's, 70's & 80's global popular music explosion.
Another new compilation I picked up at the library recently. I never knew much about Mickey "Guitar" Baker, other than hearing his late 50s session work at Mercury Records backing Louis Jordan's rocking blues sides like the 1956 version of "Caldonia" (which is included here). I had heard him thanks to the good taste of Kenny Vieth, who used to played the gifted guitarist at his Fells Point bar-and-restaurant Henninger's Tavern, and recently was thinking of him thanks to the Gallery Cafe, where Kate the sandwich girl was playing some instro compilation - I remember liking it because normally the place blared forgettable classic rock on 98 Rock. And I know Rolling Stone magazine included Baker as #53 in its list of the all-time Top 100 guitarists (Hendrix was #1 -surprise!).
If you check out this anthology, I recommend burning selected songs (git-the-hits-and-split!), mainly the instrumentals, because it's a hit-and-miss affair. Yes, there's the famous Mickey & Sylvia hit "Love Is Strange" (which ironically made its way onto the Deep Throat soundtrack) and Louis Jordan's "Caldonia '56," but with the exception of unsung rockabilly star Joe Clay's "Did You Mean Jelly-Bean (What You Said Cabbage-Head)?," a lot of the vocal sides are pretty pedestrian, being strictly B-list rockabilly and jump blues tunes.
Of those instros, I like the Bill Hendricks Orchestra's "Spinnin' Rock Boogie," Baker's own House Rockers' "Bandstand Stomp (Ho Ho Ho)", "Shake Walkin'", "Rock with a Sock" and "Greasy Spoon" (all of which would compliment any Las Vegas Grind collection) and Sam Price & His Texas Bluesicians ' "Rib Joint" (whose sleazy sax stylings are also worthy of Las Vegas Grind).
Of the vocal tracks, you gotta love Brownie McGhee's "Annie mae" - which features smokin' hot Baker solos after the first and second verses - and, of course, the irrepressibly charismatic Louis Jordan's "Caldonia '56" in which Baker conducts a riffs workshop, sliding up and down the frets like he's just greased his fingers with butter, and the boppin' titular "Hit, Git & Split" by Young Jesse.
Amazon product description: "2007 release, a definitive collection of Mickey's early world-shaking sides. Probably every guitarist has at least had a go at the legendary Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar, right? And anyone who doesn't know the classic Mickey And Sylvia hit 'Love Is Strange' just hasn't been paying attention! As influential a stylist as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, as vital to the music as Ike Turner, as innovative in technique and technology as Les Paul, Mickey was the secret hero who defined the electric guitar as it now exists."
Picked this up at the library, where they also have Watson's later Funk Anthology. But, like Elvis at Sun Records, the early recordings often represent an artist's best work, and this compilation from the UK's Ace Records certainly proves that theory right.
Although the compilation opens with the silly novelty song "The Bear" (aka "The Preacher and the Bear") - was there ever a good song about hunting bears? - the rest is solid stuff, especially the rockin' singles on King Records. I love the would-be dance craze song "Posin'" (the Vogue of its day) and the title track "Untouchable!" finds Watson grouchin' about how his girl is in love with Robert Stack's stoic FBI agent Eliott Ness of then-popular 60s TV show The Untouchables - pure Dr. Demento novelty song gold, replete with machine gun sound effects. And Watson proves himself a pretty adept ballad singer, albeit heavily influenced by the vocal stylings of James Brown (circa "It's A Man's World"), especially on "Embraceable You" and "The Nearness of You."
Good, fun stuff from the vintage age of American R&B.
