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My Aim Is True by Elvis Costello
My Aim Is True by Elvis Costello
1977 | Rock
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Elvis Costello changed everything for me. I had to have everything he made and I had to hear it all. I loved everything about him and I think I modelled myself after him a little bit. He was a solo artist and I loved the way he incorporated a band like The Attractions, it was a cool concept. I thought his whole vibe was so cool - this cool guy in the shades, kind of goofy looking and awkward, but it was all part of his aesthetic. "Red Shoes” is a great example of how he could write an instant classic, that song sounds like it’s been around forever. I really started getting into the cracks of songwriting when I heard it and it opened more technical doors for me as well. I’m definitely a fan, though, not just a scholarly fan. A lot of people I know don’t like him or don’t get it, and maybe that’s true in a grander, bigger scale - either you like him or you don’t. I love his voice and he’s a singer that I’ve tried to emulate a lot, even though I have no business doing that. He’s inspired me to write so many songs of my own and that’s helped to motivate me."

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Faris Badwan recommended Pilgrimage by Om in Music (curated)

 
Pilgrimage by Om
Pilgrimage by Om
2007 | Alternative
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I'm not a very religious guy but I suppose if I were I might like the Om cover. It's ok. I love the record though, it's really excellent. I've no idea when I first encountered it. I think I might have heard it before I heard Sleep. It's got a very cool atmosphere. I enjoy listening to atmospheres as much as songs when it comes to albums and I think this one is hard to beat for that. You can put it on whenever you want and it's always going to sound great coming out of your stereo. I listen to it a lot, especially when I'm at home. As a sideline when talking about record sleeves I really hate and completely ruined the album for me, it's not the Om sleeve. It's the sleeve of their previous band Sleep. Jerusalem or Dopesmoker - that's one of my favourite albums of all time but it's also one of my least favourite record sleeves. There's a lot of smoking weed involved and I guess that's something that I think is kind of lame in album artwork. There's just something kind of cliched about it. There's one of an astronaut hot-boxing his spacesuit which is very tasteful."

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Standing On A Chair by Beans On Toast
Standing On A Chair by Beans On Toast
2009 | Alternative, Pop, Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Beans On Toast is a guy called Jay and he used to run a pub in North London called Nambucca. When I was playing [gigs] in North London, I started hanging out there. Jay had this tiny little guitar and knew basically three chords, and he used to write these fun little songs about stuff that happened to us the weekend before. This was happening during the point in my life when my writing was deliberately complex and I was trying to be obtuse and challenging and all these kinds of things, so to hear that kind of simplicity both lyrically and musically was so inspirational to me. And it was so direct that it felt kind of punk in a roundabout way. I’d spent years writing these obscurantist lyrics and suddenly, here was a guy writing songs about us and our adventures and our thoughts and feelings and foibles and all the rest of it. It just knocked me sideways. When my old band Million Dead broke up, Jay was the leading light for me in terms of what I was going to do next—quite a lot of my early songs sound quite a lot like Jay, for good reason."

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Ian Broudie recommended track Starman by David Bowie in Platinum Collection by David Bowie in Music (curated)

 
Platinum Collection by David Bowie
Platinum Collection by David Bowie
2006 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

Starman by David Bowie

(0 Ratings)

Track

"The ‘60s was such a powerful decade for music, but in the ‘70s it suddenly felt really old to me. If you’d have asked me about The Beach Boys and The Beatles at that point, I’d have called it a load of old tosh. I was looking for my thing and the new thing, and Bowie led me into The Velvet Underground, which led me into glam rock and the New York punk scene. I remember first seeing ‘Starman’ on Top Of The Pops and I’d never seen anyone who looked like David Bowie did - it was all sparkly and mad hair, but the song sounded amazing. The message of there being something out there for you really hit home with a lot of people who were my age, and it came at a time when everyone was searching for something that our generation could call music. Bowie had his moments as an artist, didn’t he? It’s a controversial thing to say, but I think Ziggy Stardust and Hunky Dory were the only great albums he did really. He had fantastic tracks from other albums - I love “Heroes” and I love “Ashes To Ashes”, they’re brilliant songs - but in terms of albums, it’s Ziggy Stardust and Hunky Dory that mean a lot to me.”"

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The Thin Blue Line (1988)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
1988 | Classics, Documentary, Documentary
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"As someone who’s really passionate about what he does, I have a lot of opinions about documentary films. A lot of documentary filmmakers don’t really think about their films cinematically, and some documentaries almost seem like they were just copy-and-pasted like Microsoft Word documents. I’ve always loved how Errol Morris takes a wrecking ball to those conventions. His films are constantly exploring the idea of what a documentary is. His films tweak and twist reality, and they don’t just try to serve the audience digested ideas on a platter. If I had to pick a favorite, it’s his transcendent 1988 classic The Thin Blue Line, which recounts a murder case and then riffs and re-riffs on it like a Bach fugue. It was the first film to really use re-creation and reeneactment scenes in a new and highly cinematic way, both to explore a case and to challenge a viewer’s own bias and subjectivity. Nowadays, its approach and editing style loom over every one of these multipart true crime series and podcasts. The Thin Blue Line is almost like the influential band that’s been ripped off so often that new converts may not realize just how significant it is."

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Shattered Glass (Shattered Glass, #1)
Shattered Glass (Shattered Glass, #1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This caught me early on, probably the first page actually when Austin met Peter and his bunny slippers at the diner. I was instantly intrigued at what was going to happen between these two. When Austin left and phoned his fiancé I was like, "WTF?". How could he react like that when he was engaged to a woman?!

Nevertheless, I loved Austin's obsession with Peter (and the bunny slippers!) and was jumping for joy when he came to his senses regarding his marriage and more or less stalked Peter at the diner resulting in some fun scenes between them and maybe a few upsetting ones too.

The story quickly evolved into something much more complicated with Peter's background coming to light and that of his "brother" Cai. So very complicated but intriguing.

One thing that got me a bit was Austin's stupid comments when he needed to be serious causing a lot of trouble between him and everyone. Ugh! I wanted to smack some sense into him a lot of the time. And as for Peter; all the lies!? Why?

It was a good story, if a little too complicated at times trial wise, and I really liked it. I look forward to reading more books by the author.
  
*I read this as part of the Innkeeper Chronicles Volume One - Books #1-#3*

This one starts with a bang, almost literally, as a boom bike rides through their small town to deliver a message to Dina. A message from her sister, who she hasn't seen for years, asking for help. Not to mention the arrival of a Hiru, a peaceful race that has been hunted for generations because of their ugly exterior, to the inn seeking sanctuary.

There was a lot of action in this one, it seemed to never stop, and I was getting very eager for everything to come to a head. So many things were going on, I didn't want to stop reading.
Things progressed between Dina and Sean. Old friends showed up to help when things went awry. We had some really cute scenes with little Helen, Dina's niece.

I liked a lot of this book. It is my favourite of the series so far and I cannot wait to continue it to see more of this band of friends and guests.

>P.S. I also feel like I should mention the artwork included in this book. The drawings of Dina and Shaun and Maud and Helen... All amazing.
  
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Amy Adams recommended Vertigo (1958) in Movies (curated)

 
Vertigo (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
1958 | Drama, Mystery

"I love Alfred Hitchcock, but that was the first one that I saw. I saw it in humanities class in high school. We broke it down and had to write all these articles about it, and it stayed with me for a lot of reasons? in exploring all of the imagery that Alfred Hitchcock uses, and just the tone of the film. I always was a Jimmy Stewart fan — my fiancé is kind of very Jimmy Stewart. [laughs] He’s like the every man. I really loved him. And then of course the Hitchcock blonde; a lot of it had to do with the females in the films, so it’s no surprise that I became an actress. I was obsessed with Kim Novak; I would pull my hair back and try to tweeze my eyebrows so I could be a Hitchcock blonde. I loved it. And that was the first time I’d ever explored film intellectually, in that class, because before then I was, you know, I just went to the movies — things would move me and I wasn’t sure why. To get to sit down with my teacher and break a film down intellectually was a discovery for me. It’s still one of my favorites. It speaks to me very strongly."

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ClareR (5950 KP) rated Gingerbread in Books

Apr 17, 2021  
Gingerbread
Gingerbread
Helen Oyeyemi | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My initial thought on finishing Gingerbread was “what have I just read?”
This is a meandering, imaginative tale with gingerbread at it’s heart. There are a lot of nods to fairytales, from the use of gingerbread, to the name of Harriet’s best friend: Gretel. The rags and riches stories: characters leaving their farm homes to move to the city and make their fortunes.
Magical realism is used throughout, from the way that Harriet and her mother leave their homeland of Druhastrana to move to London, to Perdita’s talking dolls, who are in fact part doll, part plant.
Moving houses, haunted houses, boys who run away just like the Gingerbread Man. This is not a linear, beginning, middle and end kind of story.
At points I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but decided I didn’t care. It’s a joy to read, and I quite like a book that makes me work for the story, from time to time!
There was a nod to real life: a country cut off from any others (Brexit, anyone?), girls working for pretend/ little money and exploited, and illegal immigration.
There’s a lot to unpick in this, but to be honest, I just enjoyed the ride!