Vampire Weekend & An Aside About Hipsters

I think ur a contra.

I've been listening to a lot of Contra, Vampire Weekend's sophomore LP. I'd say it's album of the decade thus far!

Seriously though, an amazingly good album. VW manages to be entirely unique while remaining popular to a large audience. I LOVE THIS. That's a big thing for me, artists who are able to push musical boundaries, take their music to a new level, and stay relevant and popular for a large audience. Love it. Love it, love it, love it.

So let's face it. Pop music rules. Pop: you know, what's nominated for the main awards at the Grammys. That's what most people listen to; it's basically the only shit played on the radio and you'll hear it at a bar mitzvah.

Well, VW were Billboard number one. FANTASTIC. I can't wait for some dweedie indie fuck to put them down for that -- I WILL DEMOLISH THEM. Have they heard this album? This is a daring album. They are conventional without being conventional. That's what I think. I may be going a little crazy with this, granted. But you won't hear an opener like "Horchata" and a closer like "I Think Ur a Contra" on a Billboard #1 again for a long time.

If I were an artist right now, I'd be Vampire Weekend. They are writing amazing songs - have been for two albums - and are MAKING A SHIT TON OF MONEY WITHOUT COMPROMISING THEIR ART. Love it, love i,t love it. AND they're doing it on their own terms. There's no one else like them, nowadays.

Anyone who isn't sold: listen to the whole album! Haha...! Well, yes, that's true. But, specifically listen to track ten, "I Think Ur a Contra". It is a beautiful song full of resonant lyrics about what it means to be in love with someone who you think just might be a contra. Listen to it. The music is just so, so soft, spare, and textured; it makes me want to float away on it honestly, aka, the gayest thing I've ever written. If you can't make your way through the album for some reason: I once read a musician say that if he's having trouble with an album he'll skip to the last track and see where it all leads. Then, sometimes, the rest of the album makes sense. [Not necessarily a preferable tactic, but an ends to a means.]

Lastly, I would just like to say that "hipster" is thrown around way too much these days. For me, a hipster is someone who doesn't have their own identity. A person who, when you talk to them, when you look at them and see how their clothing, hair, shoes, taste, the words that come out of their mouth...something doesn't match up. Something is forced. Something in your brain goes off and you you think, Damn, what a gay. But a hipster is just that. Someone who isn't a real person, not a real man, not a real woman. I prefer dudes, dweebs, fags, losers, scumbags, douchebags, nerds, ASSHOLES, idiots, morons, peens, dunces, pinheads, lame-asses, gaywads, dickweeds, assdicks, jerkasses, fuckheads, dimwits, nerfherders, peenwans, dorks, dicks, dolts, drunks, potheads, wastecases, and all the rest because anyone called these things most likely would deny they are just that and there are TOO MANY FUCKING PEOPLE WHO REVEL IN BEING A HIPSTER. Fuck that.

BEST MOVIES OF 2009

Here's a list of my favorite movies from 2009. A little late, but, hey, here it is!

Some of these movies could prob slide a few spots up or down - except for Basterds which is unquestionably my fav from 2009.

1) Inglorious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino - His best since Jackie Brown. In many ways, this may be Tarantino's finest film, where all of his skills as a director and writer come together to form a film so unique and impeccably executed - the movie as a fucking tour de force, damn it! Everything works. There are scenes of extreme beauty and precision, and even though the film is talky in 5 different languages, none of it seems forced or overlong. It just may be his mastehrpiece.

2) The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow - This film takes place during the Iraq War but it's not really a war film. It's a people film! It's about how people cope with war and all that jazz, and that, along with a great story, action, and acting - not to mention suspense! - make for a film that has it all. To me, this is a film that should appeal to everyone who is human, and that's spoken like a true wild man.

3) A Serious Man - Coen Brothers - Liked it better than No Country for Old Men, but I was never too hot on that one anyway. That said, I dug this movie because, as you all know, the Coens got the best style around. A Serious Man was EXTREMELY well acted (Oscar nom. for Michael Stahlberg - gotta be) and EXTREMELY well directed. I have never seen a movie that conveyed how it feels to be high better than this movie. That counts for something. And it was probably the funniest movie I've seen this past year, but - the genius part? - the movie made me think about what it means to appreciate, and how those who sometimes try so hard to do the right thing still get no respect.

4) Avatar - The King of the World - I think most people really like this movie, but I've definitely heard from a bunch of people that it was less "Avatar" than "Gayvatar," mostly due to a "stupid science fiction story" and "it's just like Dances With Wolves only not as good!" Well, I haven't seen DWW but I guarantee that it is a snooze fest. As for Avatar's story? I enjoyed that it was a simple, timeless, classic. Foremost, the movie's about the 3D deliciousness and the technology and the thrillz - BUT The King of the World managed to make this an emotionally resonant film. I cared for these characters and was invested in their fate the entire 160 minutes or so of the movie.

And in terms of Avatar being the ultimate movie experience [NOTE: This means seeing it in the theater, in 3D, not at home on the 27 inch plasma] there is no film that matches it, period. Yes, the dialogue is clunky at times (part of the charm, I'd argue) and, sure, the character development isn't "believable" at times, but when you think of all those great popcorn movies of the past - think most Speilberg, Star Wars, etc. - this is the perfection of the art. Not convinced: LOOK AT THE WORLD WIDE BOX OFFICE, the second time The King of the World has done this. Sometimes box office success means diddly, but for Avatar I'd argue that, Hey, millions of people can't be wrong.

5) District 9 - Neill Blomkamp - I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie. My heart was racing. I'm not saying this hyperbolic-ly. It was racing. This was a unique movie in that it managed to be so many things. I loved the quasi-documentary style; I loved Sharlto Copely, who gave one of the year's finest performances. There was humor, there was heart, there were explosions and melodrama. I didn't mind the allegorical parallels! What sticks is the entire conceit of the movie. It's an original. It's derivitive to a degree, yes, of course, but the relationship between alien and human (HUMAN AND ALIEN????) was unlike any other of this kind that I have seen or read. And Sharlto Copely keeps us emotionally involved during the entire movie. The scene where he's about to be operated on? Maybe the best scene of the year.

6) Adventureland - Greg Mottola - Suprising? Maybe. But it's just such a true film. If you thought that Superbad was an "accurate" teen comedy, than you've gotta see this one cuz it takes it to the next level (both were directed by Greg Mottolla, btw) . I mean, Superbad was a comedy so it couldn't be THAT authentic or else we wouldn't have laughed so hard. But Adventureland is a movie that has funny moments, just like life. I'm kind of a sucker for a coming of age story - which is exactly what Adventureland is - but this one was done really well, with a stellar cast (Kristen Stewart bites her lip to perfection!), with humility, grace, and an eye for reality and truth. I can relate. Maybe it's cuz I've been to the actual Adventureland that this movie is based on - no. Doesn't matter. Mottola has made a universal movie with this one, I think.

7) The Hangover - Todd Phillips - Funniest movie of the year. Oh wait, did I say A Serious Man was funniest? Fuck it, I don't care. They're both the funniest. Todd Phillips is clearly the master: Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover. Three comedy classics.

8) Public Enemies - Michael "The" Mann - I feel that sometimes a Mann movie is less enjoyable to watch than to appreciate afterward. They're so life-like, so detailed, that's it's almost like you're not entertained because it's so real. That's KINDA how I felt after this one, though I certainly was entertained by it, what with the explosive shoot outs. But during the drive home; sitting down and talking about it; thinking about it; you realize that Mann makes movies like no one else. I'm a big fan of the hyper-realism and I wish more directors strove towards something similar to what Mann is doing. I think there'd be a lot of good films.

9) Where the Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze - This movie moved me, good flick. Was I let down a little? Yeah, I guess so. But Jonze has a singular vision, and the wild things themselves were flawlessly executed. Flaw: the movie was too short, and I believe the studios made Spike trim it down so it would be a tighter, more commercial film. We'll see when the DVD gets out. Maybe WTWTA gets even better when all the little details are included.

10) The Invention of Lying - Very funny movie. Very Gervais. Quirky. Weird. A bit off putting. And it also addresses...religion and god! If you didn't think it was for you, try it. I think you'll find something to like about it.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Paranormal Activity was awesome I thought. Truly spooky. And Up was good as well. Nice film.

NOTE: Fall asleep during Fantastic Mr. Fox because I was drunk. Don't remember the movie. Wish I did. Alas, I still haven't "seen" it.

Albums I've Liked This Year

*** 1/27/10 NOTE: Two albums would be added and are better than two of the albums on the list below. I'm just gonna name 'em here and not fuck with the other list.

"The Visitor" - Jim O'Rourke (ur ears aren't the same after)
"Farm" - Dinosaur, Jr. - great guitar shit ***

Here are some albums from the past year that I thought were really good:

"Merriwether Post Pavillion" - Animal Collevctive
"Phrazes for the Young" - Julian Casablancas
"Bitte Orca" - Dirty Projectors
"Actor" - St. Vincent
"Embryonic" - The Flaming Lips
"Album" - Girls
"Face Control" - Handsome Furs
"Post-Nothing" - Japandroids
"Wavvves" - Wavves
"Songs of Shame" - Woods

I don't know. Ho-hum. There's a lot of good stuff on my list (though, maybe it's more telling that there's a lot of music from 2009 that I have stock piled, waiting to listen to. I get so much music and it takes me so long to get to it all. But don't worry, I dig, I test.) but after I looked at it I kind of had the feeling like, These are the best?

Then again, these are all really, really good albums. I think they're just not the kind of albums I, myself, Dan Grgas, usually find myself listening to over and over again. But they ended up being the best this year.

However, one does stick out.

"Phrazes for the Young". Criminally underrated album this year. This is a classic. This is a statement. This is a man with a vision. These are catchy, classy tunes. They sound VERY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT ELSE IS OUT THERE. This is a bigger jump than so called "experimental" albums out there because it does pop music straight while resynthesizing the old through the lens of, I don't know, whatever it is The Strokes started in 2001. Garage rock. Whatever. The point is, I'm a firm believer that sometimes what is not obviously "out there" or "weird" - something that plays it kinda straight during a time where the biggest praise from the hip critics is shit that's unconventional - and while slightly turning the medium on its ear - that's where it's at for me.

This album reminds me of something that is special. Casablancas is getting fucked critically. I mean, this album is really, really good. Better than "Merriwether" and "Bitte Orca".

Oh, well, that's OK. He's better off. But the list is good. Good stuff. Maybe I'll augment it when I listen to some more shit from 2009.

How You Gonna Make Your Way in the World Woman, When You Weren't Cut Out For Working?

Just thought I'd say that there's never too much you can say about loneliness. How many people can say that they've never experienced it? Only the truly lucky.

But then again, are these people truly lucky? In many ways - the most important ways - they are. They never want and they never are without. I imagine these people loving. Loving family, friends, and lovers completely, and these people loving them back.

I hope - and immediately I don't hope - that those contributing here are lonely. I laugh, because I guess it's not really possible to never be lonely. But I'm not talking about occasional melancholy. I'm talking about a deep down incurable loneliness.

I do what I do to try and move around this feeling. I will probably love and have a family and be extremely happy. That's what I want and there's really no doubt that I will have it, in some form. Even so, I'll always be lonely. Because it is in the moments of my loneliness I find that I am truly happy. In these moments I can revel in who I am and it is in these moments when I find I am willing to give more to others than I am to myself.

There are many things that make an artist. For me, loneliness is one of them. I couldn't create without it.

Then again, all I want is some one to scratch my back and look after me.

Woe is me.

And there you have it.

NOTE: LISTENED TO THESE SONGS WHILE WRITING THIS:

"People Ain't No Good" - Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. It's loneliness.

"Prelude To 110 or 120 - Women" - Jim O'Rourke [Ha! Side note that this is the best response to a Dylan song that I have ever heard - and it only takes Jim one line and a riff. Jim O'Rourke: UNDERRATED. By far, one of our best. Eureka andInsignificance take pop and INDIE MUSIC to a place most people don't realize it can go.]

"Accidentally Like A Martyr" - Warren Zevon [didn't really listen to this song while writing this, thought I'd just make this post longer - hahaha, oh man, no, seriously, no, if you haven't explored Warren Zevon (Tuan, I'm looking at you, kid. This is the guy that everyone should know and love. No one wrote a song like he did. No one. His songs are perfect. They are the kind of songs I'd kill to write. That may not necessarily mean much, but I'd kill to hear them. And that means a lot.) then you seriously should. Especially if you like to drink and love. Drinking While Loving, Loving While Drinking. DWL, LWD.]

Altmanesque

Robert Altman: The Oral Biography by Mitchell Zuckoff

Currently reading this oral biography of Robert Altman - very good read. Though sometimes I wish it were a biography proper - you can really get lost in those, journey with both author and subject - I'm happy with this; it suits Altman in a way that a regular biography would not: his affinity for having a lot of people talking at once works in this book, as it does in his movies.

Why is Altman a great director? Paul Thomas Anderson, his friend and back-up director on Prairie Home Companion, Altman's last film (the insurance companies would only insure the film of Altman had a back up on set in case he died), attributes it to the way Altman

" ...made films. Whether the films worked or not was inconsequential to the treatment of the undertaking, the fun and the seriousness and the endeavor. It's not overlapping dialogue; it's not zooms. These are just technical things, you know?...[T]he biggest thing is just the attitude. The attitude about them."

And having watched and loved Altman films - MASH, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye, Nashville, The Player, Gosford Park, A Prairie Home Companion - I feel this. I feel it very much. The quality of the films - their being - is the result of what Altman's attitude when making his films.

Listen to this: as Altman and co. were making McCabe, the set - the American western town they were building - was growing as the film was advancing (they shot the film in sequence). The town grew as the film grew. The workers were all hippies and lived in the sets they were making. Eventually the construction of the set slowed because all the set workers didn't want to use power tools that weren't available circa 1900. The set director had all the drawers filled with items even if they never had to be opened on camera. At dailies, Altman - as he did on all his films - wanted - almost demanded - anyone and everyone that worked on the film to come and watch and to support and encourage one another so that the film became a communal experience. Everyone supported each other. (NOTE: Altman looooved to party. I love him for that alone. Daily screenings were parties.)

That's what made Altman great. The atmosphere he created that allowed everyone to do their best, AND to do their best IN EXECUTING THEIR OWN IDEAS. He let actors do what they wanted. He'd say that most of his work was done in just casting a film. Just let the actors do their thing.

I couldn't agree more. I had always wanted to be a director for many years, growing up. I thought it was what I would be doing, even though I am more naturally an actor, a writer. When I went to Syracuse to study the film business, I never handled direction, I was afraid of handling a camera because I was thinking of angles, of the technical. I thought I didn't know enough. But in reading about Altman and revisiting his films I realized that I have been directing all along. I may never have picked an angle and I get fucking nervous as fuck thinking about getting the coverage I need, but the key to directing has nothing to do with that. Presence on the set. Creating the atmosphere where a great movie could be made. Handling actors; picking the correct actors. These are the things that make a fabulous director. Leading by example. TRUST.

At the very least - or the very most - this is a director I could try and be like. Someone like Robert Altman.

This is not to diminish how he handled films visually. He was great at that too. But that was second, second to the atmosphere and the trust.

This is a great book for anyone who wants to read about a man whom people loved to make films with. And a man who made some of the greatest films in the latter half of the past century. More importantly though, watch his fucking movies. They're enjoyable as fuck.

For me, I've just been realizing that I can be a director, that I have been a director. Sure, I don't know how to handle a camera. But if I just get a DP who I trust, who knows that I trust them enough to be bold and to follow their own ideas and visions, then that's all. The movie will be great.

Go watch the movies. And read the book - you can just skim it, too!