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In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
1998 | Folk, Indie, Rock
9.0 (6 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I think that this is one of the best albums of all time. It's hard to talk about. I feel like that album is the Sgt Pepper's of my generation. It's a record that knits together a whole generation of music-lovers. The fact that it's separate and isolated is sort of poetic. My generation wasn't connected by a band; we didn't have a Beatles. We had our own bizarre little pockets of music, our own separate ways of listening and connecting. That record functions in the world unlike any other record. I've never seen anything like it. It is a religious record. People feel so fondly about it, in such a profound way. Beyond time and space, on different continents, at different parties, the name of that band will come up and you and stranger will grab each other's hands. There's not a whole lot of music that can do that. Something about that album and those songs created a deep thread of human connection through a lot of people. I think it's incredibly rare. I think all musicians inherently want to connect, because that's what music is. Music connects you, through this magical medium, to another human being. Listening to Neutral Milk Hotel and looking at the artwork for that record and listening to how it was made, and thinking about the mythology of the Elephant 6 collective, it's like Sgt Pepper's – you imagine that there's this magical world somewhere, with all these crazy musicians, living down the road from each other, banging on pots and pans and playing brass instruments, and you want to be there. You get to soak that magic up just by listening to the record. Brian [Viglione], the drummer in the Dresden Dolls, got to see Neutral Milk Hotel when they were touring that record. He was the one that turned me onto it. In the middle of the night, after our very first band rehearsal, he took me over to his house and said 'I can't believe you've never heard this record. We're not doing anything until we sit in the dark and listen to it from beginning to end.' That record was always really important to us."

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Come to Where I'm From by Joseph Arthur
Come to Where I'm From by Joseph Arthur
2003 | Alternative, Indie
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

In The Sun by Joseph Arthur

(0 Ratings)

Track

"This song is really important. I fell in love with it when it was released about ten years ago and we played it at our wedding. It’s really bittersweet, about wishing someone you’ve left high and dry the best of luck, wondering what went wrong and hoping that wherever they are, they’re going to find a path and be OK. There’s a lot of question marks in the song and it’s absolutely beautiful. I think I heard it on a radio station in Los Angeles, it didn’t get Top 40 radio play but one of the public access stations, KCRW plays a lot of new music. It struck me as a beautifully well-crafted song and again it’s a song I wish I’d written. He hit the nail on the head, there’s a lot of questioning going on, regret and searching within yourself, trying to reconcile what happened and trying to move forward. We did play a few upbeat songs at the wedding post the ceremony itself at the reception, but my wife and I also wanted to play some songs that meant something to us. Some of those songs are dark and sad, but sometimes those kind of songs make me feel good. We played ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ as we came up to the altar, it was in a park, so it wasn’t really an altar, it was a non-religious wedding. We left the spot where we got married and played this as we walked up to the reception, with these outdoor tables for us and our friends to hang out. Some people might have thought it was an odd choice, but I was deeply moved by it and still am when I hear that song. This song moves me to tears every time I hear it, I swear to God. It’s probably in my top ten songs of all time. I have a list on my Mac that I call my ‘bummer songs’, because when I listen to bummer songs they make me feel good for some reason and this is the first song on the list."

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Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966)
Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966)
1966 | International, Drama, Horror
7
6.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Christopher Lee (0 more)
Mad Monk
Rasputin, The Mad Monk- is a entertaining horror film.

The story is largely fictionalized, although some of the events leading up to Rasputin's assassination are very loosely based on Prince Yusupov's account of the story. For legal reasons (Yusupov was still alive when the film was released), the character of Yusupov was replaced by Ivan (Matthews).

Christopher Lee play as Grigori Rasputin, the Russian peasant-mystic who gained great influence with the Tsars prior to the Russian Revolution.

The emphasis is on Rasputin's terrifying powers both to work magic and to seduce women.

Rasputin the Mad Monk was filmed back-to-back in 1965 with Dracula: Prince of Darkness, using the same sets at Hammer's Bray Studios. Lee, Matthews, Shelley and Farmer appeared in both films. In some markets, it was released on a double feature with The Reptile.

It was the third collaboration between Christopher Lee and Don Sharp, following The Devil Ship Pirates and The Face of Fu Manchu.

Lee later said, "The only way you can present him is the way he was historically described. He was a lecher and a drunk, and definitely had healing powers. So he was a saint and a sinner... There were very few good sides to him. Rasputin is one of the best things I’ve done. "

"I think it's the best thing Chris Lee's ever done," said Sharp in 1992. "Rasputin was supposed to have had this ability to hypnotise people.

The original ending had the lifeless Rasputin lying on the ice with his hands held up to his forehead in benediction. However, it was considered controversial for religious reasons, and was removed. Stills of the original ending still exist.

Sharp says the final fight scene between Francis Matthews and Christopher Lee was greatly cut by Tony Keys when Sharp had to leave the film during editing. Sharp had greatly enjoyed the experience of making his first two Hammer films - Kiss of the Vampire and Devil Ship Pirates - but not Rasputin.

As a child in the 1920s, Lee had actually met Rasputin's killer, Felix Yusupov. In later life Lee met Rasputin's daughter Maria.

Its a good horror film.
  
Gotta Get Theroux This
Gotta Get Theroux This
Louis Theroux | 2020 | Film & TV
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
52 of 250
Book
Gotta get Theroux This
By Louis Theroux

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

In 1994 fledgling journalist Louis Theroux was given a one-off gig on Michael Moore’s TV Nation, presenting a segment on apocalyptic religious sects. Gawky, socially awkward and totally unqualified, his first reaction to this exciting opportunity was panic. But he’d always been drawn to off-beat characters, so maybe his enthusiasm would carry the day. Or, you know, maybe it wouldn’t . . .

In Gotta Get Theroux This, Louis takes the reader on a joyous journey from his anxiety-prone childhood to his unexpectedly successful career. Nervously accepting the BBC’s offer of his own series, he went on to create an award-winning documentary style that has seen him immersed in the weird worlds of paranoid US militias and secretive pro-wrestlers, get under the skin of celebrities like Max Clifford and Chris Eubank and tackle gang culture in San Quentin prison, all the time wondering whether the same qualities that make him good at documentaries might also make him bad at life.

As Louis woos his beautiful wife Nancy and learns how to be a father, he also dares to take on the powerful Church of Scientology. Just as challenging is the revelation that one of his old subjects, Jimmy Savile, was a secret sexual predator, prompting him to question our understanding of how evil takes place. Filled with wry observation and self-deprecating humour, this is Louis at his most insightful and honest best.

I’m a huge fan of Louis Theroux I love his documentaries so when he released this book I was so looking forward to reading it. It did not disappoint as you read you read with his voice in your head! His life and adventures are just so fascinating I laughed and also felt a little sad in places! He’s open and candid about his work and relationships. I love hearing how he got his true love and it’s like every marriage with its twists and turns. I learnt so much about him.
Well worth the read!!