WHAT I’M DIGGING

musings on music, film, books, art, and pretty things.

2019

December

01 - To share a song on a foggy morn. Some mornings the only thing I feel like listening to is Jeff Lynne.

November

…and now am into Washington Black.

I finally finished Lincoln in the Bardo. It was a hard one to get into. All these mini-narratives woven throughout, and figuring out what was happening amidst the context of the larger story was difficult. But about two-thirds of the way through, there begins a luminescent final act that is filled with some of the most beautiful passages and ideas; some conveyed in terse and crude language, others in elegant and verbose musings. A hefty work unlike any other. If you read it, read it slow, and be patient.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s 1981 morose masterpiece Architecture & Morality.

On one of my a-ha listening kicks. Yep, the Norwegian threesome most famous in the States for Take On Me. A fabulous song, but whoever still thinks of them as one-hit wonders has no idea just how deep, prolific, and strong they’ve been through four decades of making synth-pop gems that stick.

Working through George Saunders’ Man Booker-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo. A challenging start. Took me a while to figure out who was who and what was happening and follow the narrative structure the book is based around. Have to admit I slogged through the first hundred pages, but gradually picked up interest…and starting around p. 190 there are some beautiful, beautiful pieces and passages. Unlike anything else.

Please don’t make me admit this: I accidentally watched Nic Cage in The Humanity Bureau and I am a worse person for it. So much worse than a horrible movie: a boring movie. Not bad in the ‘going big and striking out.’ Just tepid, cliche, and mediocre in every way. I don’t want to talk about how I accidentally saw it. The whole thing. I’ll save it for a full blog post. Someday.

Amazon’s Modern Love anthology about…love. So delicious, so much deeper and layered than I imagined beforehand. Fave so far. Episode 1’s father-daughter-channeling When the Doorman Is Your Main Man…or Episode 4’s disintegrating marriage opera Rallying to Keep the Game Alive…or Episode 5’s second date beautiful disaster At the Hospital, an Interlude of Clarity. A wonderful look at love in different forms.

October

The Dears’ 1998 is one of the great melancholy anthems of this century. A 2017 gem.
While I wait here / keeping the wolves at bay / I open the door / Find your face / And all that you are packed in one suitcase / Yeah / This is being alive / This is being alive

I accidentally watched the premiere episode of Watchmen the night it came out, and I’m not sure what made me happier: the fact that it was really good (hyper-suspenseful foreshadowing), or the fact that for the first time in a decade or so I watched the premiere episode of something before my brother Jamey. Does this and Amazon’s The Boys signal the next wave of superhero series? Don’t know. But already looking forward to episode 2. (10/20)

Speaking of Amy Adams, the darkest, bleakest series I can remember watching, probably…ever is Sharper Objects (with her) which starts a dark gray and tumbles full on down a deep well of emotional and relational brutality, including the unfolding of a particular familial dynamic I will not list, as it would be a major spoiler. You’re welcome. Message me if you just wanna know the end. Or…skip to the Wikipedia entry. It’s dark. And I learned a few more definitions from the DSM-5 descriptions of mental disorders. Amy is terrific. If you’re super sad already, don’t watch. Go with The Sound of Music or The Goonies.

When I think of the worst things in the world that could happen, then trying to remake The Sound of Music is high on the list. Only Julie Andrews, only Christopher Plummer. Period. Not a purist most of the time, but unless Amy Adams signed up, then count me out. Some things don’t need to be redone.

James Arthur / Falling for You

August / September

The first three seasons of Veronica Mars: terrific. Edgy, funny, suspenseful, fresh. The fourth season: devoid of charm, wit, suspense, or authentic relationship-development. Sad.

I am rather impressed with the new Futureheads album, Powers, and its angular dance punk that rises from the glory days of 2003-04’s Strokes-Franz Ferdinand and makes a great end-of-summer bouncy score. Try Mortals.

July

09 - Watching Flash S2E5 with the Olders while the youngest, shirtless, draws quietly at our little white table in the corner. A precious sight.

If someone spent a Friday night writing until midnight while listening to David Bazan’s mumbled 2016 classic Trouble With Boys thirty times on repeat, would you consider that obsessive? I wouldn’t. Sounds like a smart and wonderful thing to do. I mean, if someone did that. Fine. It was me. Now go listen.

U2’s No Line On the Horizon (2009) isn’t one of their stronger albums, but the title track is one of my fave Bono vocal performances. Try singing along with its sliding between notes whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh chorus. Someday I will stay on key. Until then…I keep practicing. You’re welcome, family.

Of course the best vocal opening of all time unquestionably belongs to Zepp’s 1970 Immigrant Song…and I would also argue that Bad Romance, Lady Gaga’s 2009 melancholic anthem, belongs in the Top Ten of that category. Play on Spotify

Did a smile break out upon my face when I spied an orange-spined hardcover on the top shelf of library stacks and realized although it shared a certain similar loving attention to jacket design aesthetic, it was not, in fact, a companion piece to David Byrne’s lovely ode to travel on two wheels, Bicycle Diaries, and was in fact a lovely ode to libraries by the wonderful Susan Orlean? Yes, a smile did break as I looked around in a moment of panic that fellow bibliophiles might trample me as they desperately stretched to rip it from my hands. That vision did not unfold as book-reading brethren and sisters apparently found other delicious works to quench their literary appetites. So yes, I own a copy. For the next two weeks. Thank you, public libraries. Especially Washougal Community Library.

Your life will undoubtedly be bouncier and better if you listen to a double-blast dance fest of Dizzy Gillespie’s Trumpet Blues and Dave Brubeck’s Rondo à la Turk today. Right now.

If you loved the 2013 chilling thriller Prisoners, you’ll mildly appreciate 2015’s The Secret in Their Eyes. Nowhere near as good, but with a notable cast led by Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and a few little twists as they try to solve a 13-year old murder case that hits close to home.

I can’t think of a show I would like to binge-watch less than HBO’s grief-fest The Leftovers. It’s the aftermath of the world surviving after two percent of the population poof! Vanished. But it’s not about that, not really, and it’s more about the process of asking questions than finding answers. Some of the best writing and performances on telly, though I’m not sure the sum is greater than its parts…and there are some parts that dig into your soul and psyche in full on Old Testament emotional brutality. But I finished it months ago and am still thinking about it. Binge? Nah. Took me a long time to finish. Best show about grief and loss I’ve seen.

Tone is so much. How do you make an action thriller where 85% of the stunts are absolutely impossible according to any universe’s laws of physics, yet still find the setup believable enough to care about what’s happening in a non-ironic way? That’s 2010’s Angelina Jolie spy flick, scripted by Kurt Wimmer, who will never top his 2002 Christian Bale sci-fi work of genius Equilibrium.

If you have ever spent a Friday evening absorbed in one of Jorges Luis Borges’ short story collections, such as 1962’s Labyrinths, I can assure you we would be at best great friends and at worst respected archenemies. Layers upon layers of meaning and plot to unravel and deliciously ponder.

Sunset’s Sunshine Hair from 2009 is sooo pretty. Like Beach House and the Byrds murmuring away together in a late night jam session at a villa on the…seashore.

So what if I’ve listened to James Arthur’s Empty Space 27 times over the last week. So what. It reminds me of that one Harry Styles gem from a couple years ago. Sign of the Times. Glossy, super-produced pop sung well by a high-voiced Brit boy. Super sad, super sexy.

My brother in law says I’ve gotta see Rihanna and Childish Gambino’s 50-min Amazon film Guava Island. Bumping it up the list from its previous spot of not being on it.

If you have ever thought about writing a paper deconstructing and contrasting the social metaphors of Peter Pan versus Pan’s Labyrinth, then I can assure you we are already unmet friends.

CW’s The Flash is nowhere near the greatest superhero series. But it is one of the most fun shows I can imagine watching together as a family. Not only is it a great conversation-starter for all number of Physics questions - and I hit the Pause button frequently - but there’s some unexpected emotional heft to various relationships with some little gems of perceptiveness and nuance that is rather beautiful.

Today, I think the three best Pixar films ever are Up, Incredibles, and Toy Story 3. But tomorrow is another day. Oh, I would include WALL*E and Monsters Inc. in the top three as well.

Did I love the Netflix high school romcom ‘To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before’? The answer is yes. I didn’t love everything about it, but I loved the tiny ways of subverting expectations and portrayals of often-caricatured roles - e.g. ‘clueless dad of teenage girl.’ Also, that one guy sounds like teenage Mark Ruffalo.

If you have agonized over whether it would be worth four minutes of your day to listen to Bruce Springsteen’s There Goes My Miracle off his brand new album Western Stars, then stop agonizing and go listen. And then take another four minutes and listen again.

February

14 - What better thing to be watching than the final episode of The Great British Baking Show on Valentine’s Day? Or “VD Day,” as Becca likes to say, although strictly speaking the syntax is incorrect.

January

January 11 - Listening to The Greatest Showman soundtrack. The kids love Rewrite the Stars. I am still not weary of Never Enough, and love the growing crescendo of From Now On.

January 09 - Playlist : Pixies (x5). Five-track intro to the frenetic loud-soft genius of melody noisemakers The Pixies, from 1988 to 2016.

Caribou
River Euphrates
Gouge Away
Monkey Gone to Heaven
Head On
BONUS : Talent