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Wednesday, February 04, 2009
The Cool Crowd: The January Buzz
It's sad how disconnected I've been from blogging about television since, if nothing else, I wrote about television.
Nonetheless, here I am. And here are the subsequent thoughts.
BSG
Earth was a wasteland. We're on our last run for this epic show. What did they do? They came out BLASTING! The reveals in the season premiere were generally massive although the final one (which named the final Cylon) was disappointing. I actually finished the episode late at night - gripped to the narrative - and felt depressed for what happened. Not sure what it is with this show - deaths are common, but they know how to take your faves out and make sure it sticks.. and hurts.
The 2nd episode I enjoyed also although it was nowhere near the octane level of the premiere episode. I appreciated seeing the unraveling of the whole fleet and the citizenry. It was another depressing episode, but felt like it was setting us up for increasingly intense moments as we follow the show with its guns-blazing towards the resolution.
I don't necessarily like to make predictions, but I think Admiral Adama is going to die and Apollo will return to the military and become the new Admiral in the post-resolution BSG world. It's too easy. I guess it won't happen.
Lost
I like Daniel Farraday. There's something about his character that's noble and totally shady at the same time. I like that he's a demure nerd with immense power due to his mastery of quantum physics. Time travel or parallel worlds do exist in the quantum physics theoretical world. But, I'm hoping that this time-traveling story does.. ehem.. get lost.
I don't mind being confused. I don't mind the story being convoluted. I never watched this show because of the bigger picture although it was interesting. I loved this show because of their work on the characters no matter how expository it was. The narrative of the show continually grinds slower and slower as we are expose to more, and it's generally okay just as long as our dedication to the Losties is respected.
But, at some point, the madness needs to stop and all the silliness of the "Jughead" episode of.. "you told me to give you this to make sure you know I'm not effing around about this crazy time travel stuff".. NEEDS TO STOP! It's freaking lame. I don't like time travel stories because of stupid shit like that. They can handle the idea delicately and not succumb to its potential for idiocy.
Still. Seeing how all of this shakes down is worth the price of admission until they screw themselves too much with trying to hammer out what we should know about time travel.
Flight of the Conchords
The first two episodes of the season were generally weak, in my opinion. The songs didn't stand out too much and the bits seemed a bit forced. And, like someone said to me, the high production value of the show now sort of takes away the lofi charm of season 1.
With that said, I really enjoyed episode 3 much more than the first two. I mean, each episode has smaller gems (and I think that's why this show rocks) but the third episode just hit with more in the span of the episode. I can see why Bret and Jemaine are frustrated with the idea of making more episodes. Season 1 had a slew of already-created musical material. The songs this season seem to be trying too hard. Maybe they are being forced to expand the genres they are satirizing. If they are, I understand the need for expansion but they've showed that their chops are in 70s and 80s style songs with occasional gems in other genres. Let's hope that pressure isn't really happening.
Scrubs
I'm so glad Scrubs is back and telling good stories. Because I came in to the show in Season 5 and the slapstick was running high, I wasn't sure how a return to the S1 and S2 storytelling would vibe for me. This season, moreso than the abbreviated and disorganized (thanks NBC)Season 7, is really really good. I'm glad the rejoining of JD and Elliot wasn't a big deal (and Bill Lawrence designed it to be like that.. "no Rachel and Ross" treatment because he wanted to move on.) The first 2 episodes of the season showed the range of this show. The first episode was high octane comedy. The second was still deliciously funny but was much more of a somber episode - real emotions and real sentimentality. I haven't erased either from my DVR yet. I can come back to those two episodes multiple times.
Thank you, ABC for giving this show an opportunity to close out its characters properly. I can't believe NBC would rather make shows like Knight Rider and My Own Worst Enemy rather than stick to some loyalty of a genuinely good show. Ratings might not be great, but you can't tell me those other two wastes of time (and marketing efforts) are did more for the network.
***
.... and now.. some new shows and other stuff...
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True Blood
Not a new show, but I did give it another go on New Year's Eve when they ran a marathon. I can definitely see why others are enthralled by the show and I'm interested in watching what else may come. But, I still don't love the show, and I think the quirks of it.. mostly revolving around supernatural beings (vampires, mind-reading, werewolves, etc.) doesn't do enough for me. The story is generally fun and enticing. The characters are expanding. It'll be put back on the DVR list when it returns, but it's unlikely I'll run to each new episode.. unlike I'm doing with...
Damages
Wow. I have no following of Glenn Close and no real commitment to law dramas, but this show does something for me. It's multi-layered obviously. The performances are good. None are over the top but all carry weight. William Hurt is a joy to watch.
Not sure why, but there's something of a BSG vibe that I get with this show - each character is untrustworthy yet are balanced with some ambitions of nobility. The drama and narrative is intense, but is smooth. BSG is usually very powerful and hyper-intense, but there is still some butter to the burnt toast. I think Damages has that silkiness.
Or I may be totally off in my comparison, but there's just a level of interest that each episode has created that the end always comes too soon.
Now.. all I need is FX to broadcast in HD - or at least, more widely.
The Tudors
Not sure what it's been, but when I originally found no interest in this show, I now am connected to the characters. I don't think this show is too complicated or utterly anything special. It seems to follow an easy series archetype (especially for a lot of cable shows) that explores immorality, dishonesty, corruption, and sex. This time though, they're parading around in the garb of its era.
I akin the series to what the stories would be like if Commodus, in Gladiator, had his own show. Maybe with Henry the VIII being a bit less creepy (but equally impetuous, whiny, and sleazy). Every character has an ulterior motive - and at the point where I am in Season 1 (DVDs) - all are scheming towards the downfall of each other except, interestingly, Henry VIII. Yes, he's trying to get a divorce, but he's otherwise open about it. Everyone else is playing double-agent of sorts.
I see this as more of a soap opera that's dressed up in period clothes and somehow has more "relevance" because it's on Showtime. Nonetheless, it's fun to watch.
***
..... so otherwise........
***
Ain't much changed since November.
Review: The Pharcyde, "Sold My Soul: The Remix and Rarity Collection"
On Amazon mp3, the Pharcyde, "Sold My Soul: The Remix and Rarity Collection" 2-disc album is sold for $15.98. Not bad especially considering that the actual CDs cost $17.98 on Amazon's non-download site.
On emusic, where I pay $19.99/mo to get 75 downloads, I just bought that same CD for $6.40.
Some of the best $6.40 I've spent in a while.
I'm sure the DJs and utilizers of vinyl probably have a lot of these songs already, but since I'm neither of those two categories - I did not. Normally, I don't bother with remixes because the captive allure of the songs stem from the originals. Rarely do most remixes make it past a 10 second test. The remixes of Scenario - Tribe and LONS, You Never Knew - Hiero, and the Got 5 On It - Luniz and the bay rappers definitely stand on the high ground with their original counterparts.
This collection of b-sides is pretty on-point though. While, I'm sure that eventually listening to the same song three different ways will get tiresome if done too much, the fact is that each track stands on its own - even if the vocals are the same.
Remixes are strange fruits like avocados. They have an acquired taste. They're potentially confusing in their constitution. They also do great at times to amplify the flavor of the original but other times tear down the essence of the foundation. Yes, it's still an avocado metaphor. Or simile.
I still have to dig deeper into each track more, from a sometimes deep and sometimes ambient listening perspective, the beats don't ever take away from the original concept of the song and importantly do not pull the songs away from the Pharcyde themselves. Some remixes hi-jack a song from the original artist, but that's not the case here. With more listen, I may find one or two that distance the emcees from the material, but as of now I think these chosen amplifications do a wonderful job.
Most of the beats sound organic - truly musical and relate back to the Pharcyde's west coast chill. Bizarre Ride II had more boomin' beats at times than labcabin, but here, the takes on the tracks are legitimately jazzed up with the aura of instrumentation.
Sometimes with emusic, you can feel pressured into dling songs that you might not otherwise take a glance at. With the time limit, the potential to forget about your DLs for each month, and the low cost of the each DL, it's easy to reach for material. Sometimes exploration is great. Other times, you're left with hard drives on both your computers and ipods filled with music you probably would never give more than 2 revolutions. But, there are other times that sampling the 30-second clips could inspire a decision that you'll appreciate forever.
For $6.40, it's easy to appreciate a service like emusic and the exploratory nature of "independent" music. It's like the crate digging of vinyl junkies. It's like the box digging of used-cd bargain hunters. There's excitement in finding gems even when some "finds" turn out to be duds.
Sold My Soul? Hardly.
