The Special Edition: 02.01.2011

Never Let Me Go was one of the best surprises of 2010. Playing British boarding school drama against a Sci-Fi concept was insanely smart. Knightley, Garfield and Mulligan form a perfect trio of young people trying to discover themselves, as they seek to love each other. When the big twist is revealed, it almost doesn’t matter. You forget about the Sci-Fi elements, as you’re just so concerned over what’s going to happen to these fully-formed individuals. Mark Romanek continues to impress in his latest directing effort, which only leads me to ask why isn’t he a bigger name? This is a recommended blind buy for all.

A Woman, A Gun and a Noodle Shop makes me hopeful for future Coen Brothers remakes. That is if foreign powerhouse directors such as Zhang Yimou continues to handle them. While a lot of people haven’t taken to this adaptation, I have to admire its ability to break away from past Yimou films. Playing stark landscape against archetype, Yimou allows for the complexity of Coen’s Southwestern Noir to unfurl in a historical Chinese setting. I’d recommend a double feature with Blood Simple to set the mood. If you try to compare it to other Yimou offerings, you’ll be disappointed.

WELCOME TO THE RILEYS

Director: Jake Scott

Sony

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Special Features:

Welcome to the Rileys marks another surprise for me from last year. I love James Gandolfini more than that most actors, so I’ve taken quite a few lumps following him into various cinematic features. However, this film from underrated director Jake Scott provides a far darker take on the usual grieving parent schtick. Gandolfini plays an older guy named Doug who has hit the end of the road regarding his marriage to Lois. On a business trip to New Orleans, Doug discovers a young stripper that looks like his dead daughter. Sparking up a truly fucked up relationship, Doug spends hundreds of dollars for the chance to keep this stripper in his life. As he begins to pull away from his life back home, his wife decided to make the trip to see this stripper doppleganger. Unfortunately, she doesn’t snap Doug out of his current funk, but elects to join him.

Music

Section By Jeb D.

BARTON HOLLOW

The Civil Wars

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Iron and Wine fans perplexed by the kitchen-sink production of his major-label debut might give an ear to the duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White, whose first full-length album carries much of the same sober, restrained acoustic sound that marked Sam Beam’s early work. The Civil Wars seem to get lumped into the “country” section, primarily because a narrow-minded music marketing business doesn’t know what else to do with them, but apart from the occasional pedal-steel lick, and the occasional  hint of Nashville twang in Williams’ singing, this is solid folk-based indie pop music. The subject matter can cover love and loss, but usually with a twist the listener doesn’t see coming (“To Whom It May Concern,” “The Girl With The Red Balloon”), sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter (“She’s the absinthe on my lips / Splinter in my fingertips / But who could do without you“). Contemporary notions of sin and salvation are given a once-over (and found wanting, often as not) on “C’est la mort” and the thundering title cut. The instrumentation of producer Charlie Peacock isn’t worlds removed from the dark acoustic-electric mix of T-Bone Burnett or Buddy Miller, and Williams is an elegant, expressive pianist. It’s the exquisite harmonic interplay that makes the album memorable, though, from the aching nostalgia of “My Father’s Father” to the shy, sly “I’ve Got This Friend.” Highly recommended, particularly to anyone waiting for the next Plant & Krauss.

ROLLING BLACKOUTS

The Go! Team

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Talk about your kitchen sink: The production on the third album from The Go! Team makes the new Iron and Wine sound as simple as The Ramones, with bits and pieces of everything from girl-group pop to Philly soul strings, masses of brass that would serve the next “Rocky” film, squiggly synth-pop and dirty guitar noise, to baroque treated piano to… hell, I’m exhausted. But, then, just one listen to the high-energy opener, “T.O.R.N.A.D.O.” is a workout all by itself, and they’re just getting started: track after track on this insanely catchy album pulls something new out of its sonic hat, whether it’s the keening choruses of the title track, the insistent chant of “The Running Range” or the “Tusk”-like brassiness of “The Bust-Out Brigade.” Bethany Cosentino adds a terrific lead vocal on “Buy Nothing Day” and Dominique Young Unique fronts the nyah-nyah brattiness on “Voice Yr Choice.” Gleeful dance music for anyone who can’t be bothered with “Glee.”

SONGS FROM A ZULU FARM

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

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Marking almost a half-century as African vocal music’s leading export, Joseph Shambala and his group show no signs of slowing down, and their latest offering is, within the formal structure of their Zulu tradition, one of their most varied and enjoyable yet. This first CD of a planned trilogy is a collection of children’s songs from the members’ youth; for all their simplicity, though, they’re rich in the stunning harmonies and sly vocal percussion that this superb a capella group is known for, so expressive that no translation is needed to feel the joy and warmth of childhood memories. Some of the tracks were laid down live on a South African farm, and the ambient sounds add to the transportive effect, from the rainfall in the background of “Imithi Gobakahle (Children Come Home)” to the giggling children delighted to be splashing in “Cabhayeye (Puddles!).” We get the homey concerns of farm life in “Wemfana (Bad Donkey)” and “Lezonkomo (Praise The Cows & Bulls),” but the onset of maturity and responsibility comes at an early age for a young South African in “Ekhaya (Don’t Leave Home Too Soon)” and “Thalaza (I Miss My Home, I Miss The Farm).” And they might be the first major musicians since Frank Sinatra to conclude an album with a (very distinctive!) version of “Old MacDonald Had A Farm.” In the years since Paul Simon’s Graceland, instrumental-based African musical styles have been the most familiar styles to Western listeners, as bands like Vampire Weekend absorb the guitar sounds of King Sunny Ade, and rootsy folks like Ry Cooder and Robert Plant give themselves over to the “Desert Blues.” This album’s a great reminder of how rich the vocal tradition of the continent is, as well.

LIVE FOREVER: THE STANLEY THEATRE, PITTSBURGH PA SEPTEMBER 23, 1980.

Bob Marley

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Recorded shortly before Marley’s death; powerful, vigorous performances of the pick of his catalog, with the added bonus of one of his best bands, in clear, vivid sound. You might not think you really need another version of “Jamming” or “No Woman No Cry” (and, truth to tell, you probably don’t), but if your Marley exposure tends toward the “Greatest Hits” type collections, this would be a fine introduction to such lesser-known gems as “Natural Mystic” and “Coming In From The Cold.” It’s also a good reminder that his transition to international icon status didn’t blunt Marley’s clear-eyed anger at a racist, imperialist world: it’s not particularly reassuring that “Burnin’ and Lootin’,” “Them Belly Full” and “Zimbabwe” ring as true, and as relevant, now as they did thirty years ago. And when the band rounds into the concluding “Get Up Stand Up,” in what would be Marley’s final performance of his signature song, you’d be forgiven for getting a bit choked up: reggae may have produced more exciting or imaginative musicians than Marley, but it never produced a finer humanitarian (not that any other musical form did, either).

Other Notable 2/1 Releases

Northern Mississippi All-Stars, Keys to the Kingdom. Good ol’ boys whose blues-rock engine purrs and growls like a ’51 Merc. “Hey Hey well well / All of y’all can go straight to hell / You seen the last of me / Pissin’ in your wishin’ well.”

Ricky Martin, Musica + Alma + Sexo. I once heard a remix of “Livin’ La Vida Loca” that stripped out everything but the guitar and percussion. It was pretty cool.

Red, Until We Have Faces. Competent metal crunch, vocals scaled into the exact range to tingle the adolescent hormones.

Joan as Police Woman, Deep Field. More of her patented blend of neo-soul and neo-classical. More interesting than Angie Dickinson, for sure.

The Rippingtons, Cote D’Azur. Russ Freeman’s latest world tour of expertly-played, sumptuously recorded modern jazz lite.

Cowboy Mouth, Mardi Gras. New EP for your Fat Tuesday party, with covers of Ernie K-Doe and Professor Longhair, as well as their Katrina song “Avenue.” Mighty kootie fiyo, if you know what I mean… and I’m sure you do.

The JaneDear Girls, The JaneDear Girls. The country costumes are out of Nashville central casting, the music generic pop-rock with just enough twang to hit the sweet spot of the cornpone diva market.

Marcus Miller, A Night in Monte Carlo. Stunning symphonic jazz, performed live with Miller’s quartet and the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, with guests including Roy Hargrove. “Blast!” and “State of Mind” are sumptuous, but “I Loves You Porgy” and “Strange Fruit” will speak directly to your soul.