It's been a while, I know (aka The Free Music Bribery Post)

So, it's been, like, over a week since I posted anything on this site...and I apologize. Like the title of the post says, I want to post some kick-awesome music to make up for it. A lot of great albums have come out in the last two weeks and I was too busy soaking in their utter brilliance and majesty to be bothered writing anything in my blog. I've already been singing praises about The Flaming Lips and their new disc, At War With the Mystics, but I can't stress this enough: the album is great, better than Yoshimi and just a hair under the utter awesomeness that is 1999's The Soft Bulletin (which has also been re-released in 5.1 surround sound!) And while hits like "Mr. Ambulance Driver," "The W.A.N.D," and "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" are all utterly amazing, I have really fallen in love with this one song, "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion." So pretty, so psychedelic, so Flaming Lips-ish. It could almost be seen as a sequel to Yoshimi's track "It's Summertime (Throbbing Orange Pallbearers)". Naturally, the Lips give "Autumn" its own subtitle, which reads "The Inner Life as Blazing Shield of Defiance and Optimism as Celestial Spear of Action." You'll just have to listen to it yourself.

The Flaming Lips - "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion"
from At War With the Mystics

Also worth mentioning are the new releases from two of my favorite alt-rockers, Josh Rouse and Sondre Lerche. While Rouse takes his already brilliant brand of pop-folk into Spanish territory with his album Subtítulo, Lerche defies all expectations and delivers Duper Sessions, a surprisingly solid jazz album. Here are a couple highlights from both:

Josh Rouse - "Givin' it Up"
from Subtítulo

Sondre Lerche - "(I Wanna) Call It Love"
from Duper Sessions

And finally, the Tuesday before last marked the debut release from Band of Horses, the beautiful and utterly anthemic Everything All the Time. If you plan on buying this album, I strongly recommend that you actually purchase the physical CD, not buy it off iTunes or anything. I will admit, I am a sucker for cool CD packaging, and Everything All the Time does not upset. The liner notes fold out to reveal three color prints of photographs by Christopher Wilson. The three I got were of a telephone pole, a hand waving at an airplane passing by, and an antique-looking living room, which leads me to the question: Does everyone get the same three photos when they buy this album or do they change from copy to copy? Someone please provide me with the answer! In the meantime, here's one of my favorite new songs off the record:

Band of Horses - "Weed Party"
from Everything All the Time

Alright, I hope that more than made up for my absence. I promise it won't ever happen again...until it does.

Daft Punk to Release Greatest Hits Album

After the failure of 2005's Human After All, an album I labeled one of the most disappointing of the year, Daft Punk will be releasing Musique 1: 1993-2005, a greatest hits compilation, which will include hits from their last three albums, as well as bonus remixes and, in a special edition package, a DVD featuring all of the videos, plus a couple never-before-seen ones.

On a personal note, I absolutely despise best-of comps that get put out after an artist's first two-or-three albums. It is such an obvious marketing ploy, designed to squeeze as much money as they can out of the consumer. Up until now, the main offenders have been people like Hilary Duff and Aaron Carter, people who don't even deserve to be called musicians. But Daft Punk?! C'mon!! I thought you guys had some class. I know Human After All was a misstep, but that doesn't mean you have to rush-release a best-of and then call it a day. That's not the Daft Punk I know.

The only reason I would be interested in buying this is for the bonus remixes and DVD, and I already have most of their videos, thanks to the Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze retrospective DVDs. As for the songs that made it onto this "greatest hits," it's got the obvious entries ("Da Funk," "One More Time," and "Robot Rock") but where are "Aerodynamic" and "Digital Love," two of my favorite songs off their second album, Discovery? They were singles, they had videos...what the f*ck?

This is What DiMattiaFilms Actually Believes

Even after ten years of gross-out humor and biting satire, South Park's still got it. Recently, two of their episodes have come under fire from two different religious organizations (or, in my opinion, one religious organization and one crock of sh*t): the Catholic church for the episode "Bloody Mary" and Scientologists for "Trapped in the Closet." Both episodes have been banned indefinitely, though it's pretty easy to pick up either of them on BitTorrent (don't tell the FCC).

But creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have not backed down. In fact, they upped the ante when they debuted their tenth season premiere episode "The Return of Chef!" even though Issac Hayes, who provides Chef's voice, left the show, citing its religious intolerance (probably because of the fact that he's a Scientologist). So, instead of giving someone else the task of doing Chef's voice, Parker and Stone simply re-cut Hayes' voice from past episodes and edited the snippets together into new dialogue.

It didn't stop there. In the episode, Chef returns to South Park only for the kids to find out that he's been brainwashed into becoming a child molester after joining the Super Adventure Club, an obvious reference to Scientology. After Chef dies an utterly gruesome, albeit hilarious death, Kyle remarks at his funeral,

"We can't let the events of the last week take away the memories of how Chef made us smile.... So, you see, we shouldn't be mad at Chef for leaving us. We should be mad at that fruity little club for scrambling his brains."

Feel free to interpret that dialogue however you see fit.

For more on the continuing South Park controversy (jokingly referred to as "Chefgate"), read the Scanners blog, written by the editor for Roger Ebert's website, Jim Emerson.

IN OTHER NEWS: This Sunday's episode of the Simpsons will have the show's first-ever live action opening sequence. That's right; everything that happens in the traditional Simpsons opening will be done by real-life people! Read the story here.

Music makes the world go round!

First off, I have no clue why Blogger has been acting so weird these last couple of days. I've tried republishing my blog, but to no avail. I hope after this post, things start to get back down to normal. Sorry for the inconvenience...

Anyway, moving on!

The new Flaming Lips album, At War with the Mystics, can now be streamed in its entirety at NME.com. I'm currently listening to the first track off it, "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" and already, it sounds like a side of the Lips I have never heard before...and would very much like to hear more of!

ALSO! Everything All the Time, the debut album by one of my favorite new bands, Band of Horses, gets released this Tuesday! Here's an MP3, "The Funeral". Another new album that arrives on the 21st is Josh Rouse's Spanish-tinged Subtitulo. Sorry, no free MP3s, but you can stream a couple tracks off his Myspace page.

Anyone know of any other albums that are coming out soon?

V for Vendetta, S for Shitty Sequels

Just got back from seeing V for Vendetta. I really liked it, though the jury is still out on what exactly it means, which is saying something since most Hollywood-made movies these days want nothing more than to shove a totally obvious plot device down your throats.

Case in point: the retarded trailers I was subjected to before the film. I've now gotten into the habit of arriving to movies five minutes late, so as not to have to sit through commercials, as I have already expressed my disdain for them. But these trailers for, among others, X3, Poseidon, and Take the Lead, the only non-sequel/remake in the bunch, but still just as contrived. If I see another film about a renegade teacher who takes a ragtag group of kids under his/her wing and BOOM! They become brilliant dancers/athletes/musicians...well, I'm not gonna see any of those movies anymore, so it's a moot point.

The worst offender, however, was the god-awful trailer (and inevitably god-awful movie) for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Don't bother asking me why on earth someone would want to make a third Fast and the Furious movie, but looking at director Justin Lin's previous credits (which include the recent release Annapolis, which received an 11% from Rotten Tomatoes), it's not like he could do any worse.

With that being said, here are five upcoming films that actually look like they're worth the admission cost:

Thank You for Smoking: After being released in select cities today, this comedy starring Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, William H. Macy, Rob Lowe, J.K. Simmons and Robert Duvall will hopefully be receiving a wide release, especially once crap like Failure to Launch and The Shaggy Dog go away.

Inside Man: The new film from Spike Lee shies away from his usual topics and turns, instead, towards a bank robbery involving Clive Owen, Denzel Washington, and Jodie Foster. I'm trying to avoid any TV ads for the film, as I've heard they give away too much of the plot in them (damn marketing execs!)

Lonesome Jim: Steve Buscemi takes up the director's chair in this quirky comedy starring Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler.

Awesome: I Fuckin' Shot That!: This concert film starring the Beastie Boys was filmed mostly by fans who were handed camcorders before the show and asked to film during its entirety.

American Dreamz: Everything in American pop culture and politics is hit with biting satire in this film from the director of About a Boy and featuring an all-star cast including Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, and Willem Dafoe.

Also, the movie I am most looking forward to this summer is none other than Robert Altman and Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, which will hopefully be seeing a release on June 9. It is one of my favorite radio shows (actually, it's my only favorite radio show) and Altman is one of my favorite directors. Let's hope this partnership bears fruit.

Jump Cut finally dies...

Well, it took them several months longer than it said they would, but Libsyn finally terminated Jump Cut Radio, and all episodes therein. So, if you didn't get a chance to listen to 'em, I have all the episodes on back order (i.e. on my computer), so if you want a couple, e-mail me and I'll see what I can do.

So far, no new podcasts are in the works, but I am looking into DJing for a college radio station in Greensboro this summer! Maybe I'll work out a new music podcast this summer, too...

ALSO!! In case you haven't noticed, new photos from my recent Spring Break trip to L.A. have been added to Flickr! Check 'em out and leave some comments, por favor!

Customer Reviews for Dummies

Sorry, I just have to get this off my chest.

A habit I've started noticing on the iTunes Music Store is the habit of referencing previous reviews when someone is posting their own review for a song/album/audiobook/film/whatever on the site. This, my friends, is a practice that must be stopped. I mean, seriously, do people not realize how stupid they sound when they write "The anonymous reviewer before me has no idea what they're talking about"? Let's hear what you have to say, okay, buddy? This is a review, not a message board.

I would also like to point out the following review by "dr. trey" of the new album by Matisyahu, Youth:

"EVRYONE [sic] SHOULD BUY IT...This is even better than live at stubb's.. after you buy it you will know what im talking about"

Um...what are you talking about? The whole point of customer reviews is that you will explain to us what makes said album so good/bad so THEN we will buy it! What I really can't understand is that, according to iTunes, "15 out of 18 listeners found this review helpful."

I guess you could say I'm doing the same thing, posting a review of reviews on my blog (which is, essentially, a personal site where individuals post reviews of stuff), but I'd like to think I'm more articulate than most. All I'm asking is that people treat customer reviews with the same respect that professional reviewers treat their own content. Don't say "THIS ALBUM SUXX!!" and leave it at that. Explain what you don't like about the album. Give any biases you may have against said album (for example, I would probably give a Kenny Chesney album a bad review, but it would be bias because I don't like country music in the first place). As always, don't shove your opinion down the reader's throats. Be courteous, like you're talking to someone you're just meeting for the first time.

Here's a final compare/contrast. First, we have a review from "Route66" in regards to the band Field Music and their self-titled debut:

"This cd has potential and should be downloaded by many but we'll just have to wait and see."

Now, click here to read a different review for the same album by one of my favorite podcasters, Funtime Ben.

Can you tell the difference? I hope so.

Flaming Lips Artwork Revealed!

Click on the image for a closer look.

I'm very excited about the new album from The Flaming Lips, entitled At War With the Mystics, and if this kickass George Salisbury-drawn cover is any indication, it should be a captivating affair. I already picked up the just-released single for The W.A.N.D., which comes with two very interesting b-sides.

Of course, both "The W.A.N.D." and another track, "Mr. Ambulance Driver" can be purchased online at the iTunes Music Store.

An Olympian's iTunes Playlist

North Carolina native, Olympic speed skater/music enthusiast Joey Cheek has his own celebrity playlist on the iTunes Music Store and it is very impressive. Anyone who likes Andrew Bird, Death Cab for Cutie, and Elliott Smith is alright in my book!

On the eels Live Album

I've never been all that big a fan of live albums, especially ones that release a DVD of the performance at the same time. The main reason I dislike them is that in typical marketing fashion, certain songs are relegated to the DVD exclusively, leading me to ask "Why not just put the whole performance on the CD? People aren't going to get the DVD because of the extra songs. They'll get it so they can watch the band perform as well as listen to it!" Coldplay had the right idea releasing Live 2003 as a CD/DVD combo, but they still stifled the CD release by hacking several songs off of it.

This leads me to the new live album by eels, a band whose excellent double album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations made my top ten list of 2005. The live album, entitled With Strings: Live at Town Hall, collects several tracks from that release, as well as a grab bag of songs from past albums like Beautiful Freak and Daisies of the Galaxy. Bandleader Mark Oliver Everett ("E") also tackles an intriguing trio of covers, from Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country" to Johnny Rivers' "Poor Side of Town," my pick for the best track on this album.

What's most impressive about this live album is that, despite the missing eight songs from the performance, it is masterfully recorded and edited together. Audio mixer Douglas Trantow should be applauded for making such an intimate recording of E's performance, as well as the performances by a pair of multi-instrumentalists and a very talented string quartet, that at some points, it almost feels like you're listening to a studio album.

Naturally, it wasn't until I purchased a physical copy of the album that I discovered the iTunes Music Store offering it for ten bucks, with three bonus tracks. Dontcha hate when that happens?

Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.

The latest news from the Associated Press:


Wow. Looks like Kanye West was right.

See the article here.

R.I.P. Don Knotts

Barney Fife has passed away, and the world is surely a sadder place without him.

UPDATE: And now the dad from A Christmas Story died? What is this world coming to?!

The Case Against Theater Ads

Roger Ebert's latest Movie Answer Man column addresses an important issue that has been pissing off the moviegoers of America for several years running and that is the idiotic inclusion of television commercials at the start of most theatrical films.

I'm not an expert on these things, but if you're paying upwards of $7 to see a movie, the last thing you want to see are big-screen versions of ads hawking Coca-Cola, American Express, and last (but stupidest) the Marines. Who in their right mind is going to report to a recruitment office and say "Yeah, I saw your Marines ad before Final Destination 3 and I thought, 'That's for me!!'"

So, I have devised a simple hypothesis: Maybe the reason theaters haven't cut down or eliminated ads before movies is that people aren't being vocal enough about it. So, the next time you're at a movie theater, snag a couple comment cards (or give one to each member of your party) and fill them out, noting in the comments field how much you are sick and tired of commercials when you go to the movies. Better yet, find a manager and let him or her know.

I'm going to try and see Woody Allen's new movie Match Point tonight. I'm going to keep track of how many ads I see before it and report back tomorrow on it. Later!

Trippy Video of the Day

Here's something to blow your mind on a Saturday night. Check out this medley of old 1980s ads for the Isuzu Gemini.



Keep in mind that NO CGI was involved in these commercials. The stunts you see on the screen are really being performed!

Thanks, Yewknee.

Twenty years...

Wow. Can't freakin' believe it. So now that I have left the realm of the teens and into twentyhood, I look forward to all that lies ahead. In this day and age, I feel like simply being alive and well for twenty years is something of an accomplishment. So, thank you everyone who has sent me good wishes and e-mails and cards and stuff! Your generosity has not gone unnoticed! Now that you're here, please partake of my birthday mixtape, download one of my short films, or better yet, send me an e-mail! Any of these things would be a great gift to me. Thank you all, and good night!

Devin DiMattia
Keepin' it real since 1986.

My Birthday's Tomorrow, But Here's a Gift for You!

Whee!!! To celebrate my upcoming 20th birthday, I've posted a new mixtape on YouSendIt, ready for your downloading pleasure!

CLICK HERE TO GET IT!!

I've put some of my favorite birthday songs, as well as tracks about youth and life and pretty much anything else I could think of. Here's the track list:

Devin's Birthday Mix
1. The Beatles, "Birthday"
2. The Soundtrack of Our Lives, "Bigtime"
3. Jamie Cullum, "These Are the Days"
4. Travis, "Happy"
5. Dave Matthews, "So Damn Lucky"
6. Coldplay, "Crests of Waves"
7. The Beatles, "Getting Better"
8. Robbie Williams feat. Frank Sinatra, "It Was a Very Good Year"
9. Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins feat. Ben Gibbard, M. Ward, and Conor Oberst, "Handle With Care"
10. The Smittens, "Party Time"
11. The New Pornographers, "Broken Beads"
12. Blue Man Group, "I Feel Love"
13. The Strokes, "The End Has No End"
14. Faces, "Ooh La La"
15. Andrew Bird, "The Happy Birthday Song"

Bonus Track: Frank Sinatra, "Young at Heart"

Oh, and also, since I'm utterly terrible at keeping track of time, I just found out that the first anniversary of the DiMattiaFilms blog was back on February 7th, so Happy Belated Anniversary, DiMattiaFilms!! As of right now, we've hada total of 4,518 visitors to this site, and we're still growing! Thanks, everyone, for all your support!

dj BC Strikes Again

A couple of years ago, mashup master dj BC delivered The Beastles, a collection of better-than-average mashups of Beatles and Beastie Boys tunes. Now, he's back with Let It Beast, a follow-up collection of more Beastie/Beatle mashups. What I've always liked about dj BC is his rapid-fire precision in piecing the two songs together. He also has more fun with the mashup concept than most, usually throwing in random movie and TV clips for good measure (his first album sampled High Fidelity and School House Rock, to name a few). Give 'em a listen!

Yahoo on Yahoo!

Read this news article (link removed) about Cheney's recent hunting victim having a heart attack and tell me there's not something funny about it. Correction: somethings.

Check out these snippets:

• "Whittington suffered a 'silent heart attack'--obstructed blood flow, but without the classic heart-attack symptoms of pain and pressure."
  
  Oh, how I long for the days when people experienced "classic heart-attack symptoms," not all the high-tech, razzle dazzle of "silent heart attacks." What is this world coming to?
  
  
• "The doctors said they decided to treat the situation conservatively and leave the pellet alone rather than operate to remove it."
  
  I certainly hope they're treating the situation conservatively. He is a millionaire lawyer.
  
  
• "Cheney, an experienced hunter, has not spoken publicly about the accident, which took place Saturday night while the vice president was aiming for a quail. Critics of the Bush administration called for more answers from the Cheney himself."
  
  So now we're supposed to refer to him as "the Cheney"? What an egotistical maniac!

Sick in bed...

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've recently come down with a bad virus and have been bedridden for the last couple days. Is it a deadly strain of bird flu?! Only time will tell. BUCK-CAW!! Oh, shit.

Surround Sound Lips, Pt. II

The Flaming Lips have always tried their hand at pushing the boundaries of musical enjoyment, from conducting massive parking lot experiments involving hundreds of car tape decks each with a different set of music, to the release of Zaireeka, a four-CD box set designed to be played all at once. Now, the Lips have taken the liberty of re-releasing their past albums in glorious 5.1 Surround Sound.

Their first endeavor, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 5.1, was impressive, despite the fact that the US version had a flaw in it causing the last song to cut off twenty seconds early.

After that album's release, the Lips asked their fans to pick which one of their previous albums should be given the 5.1 treatment next. The fans came up with the obvious choice, 1999's The Soft Bulletin, one of my favorite albums of all-time (that's another list that I've been meaning to post on this blog).

I'm listening to it right now and, I must say, it's quite impressive. If you have a 5.1 speaker setup in your house, this is the perfect disc to try it out on. Plus, it's the Lips, so you know it's good. In addition to the complete album in 5.1 Dolby Digital format (with psychedelic visualizations for your TV), you can listen to several unreleased outtakes and radio sessions, as well as watch the music videos for "Race for the Prize" and the uncensored version of "Waitin' for a Superman." Also, like the 5.1 version of Yoshimi, the Lips include the original CD version on a separate disc. But what's interesting about The Soft Bulletin 5.1 is that while the CD contains the US version of the album, with the Mokran mixes of "Race for the Prize" and "Waitin' for a Superman," the 5.1 DVD version is the original UK sequence, without the Mokran remixes but including "Slow Motion," a song cut from the US version and replaced with "The Spiderbite Song." Luckily, I found a copy of the song in regular MP3 format and am presenting it here for your downloading pleasure:

The Flaming Lips, "Slow Motion" (right-click, Save As...)

For those who want more, here's a nice cover of the Lips song "Suddenly Everything Has Changed" by our good friends The Postal Service:

The Postal Service, "Suddenly Everything Has Changed (Flaming Lips cover)" (right-click, Save As...)

Brokeback to the Future

A hilarious new fake trailer that uses clips from all three Back to the Future films and incorporates them into a Brokeback Mountain-style plot. Enjoy!



Thanks to Stereogum.

PREVIOUSLY: The Shining gets turned into a romantic comedy.

Tuesday Tidbits

• I found another funny webcomic, the Perry Bible Fellowship. Thanks, Yewknee.
  
• They announced the Oscar nominees today. I know not many of my predictions turned out to be right. The reason I didn't include any nominations for Brokeback Mountain was because I hadn't seen it yet. Which brings me to my next tidbit...
  
• I saw Brokeback Mountain last Saturday and was pleasantly surprised. I was skeptical about this film, especially because of all the hype it had been receiving, but I see now that while it doesn't deserve a lot of the press it has been receiving, it is an impressive motion picture. This year's Best Actor race is gonna be a tough one!
  
• This week's free single on iTunes is by UK rock group The Magic Numbers, entitled "Love Me Like You Do." It's excellent, and it's free.
  
• You can now download Strong Bad e-mails for your video iPod. Or, if you don't have a video iPod (like me), you can just download the e-mails so you can watch them whenever you want on iTunes.
  
• You could buy the two new Gorillaz songs off iTunes, or you could just download them for free here. Thanks, Clever Titles.

Steve Jobs Declares He Owns Everything

Drawing from Crookie's Blog

I don't know if everyone's been following the Disney/Pixar debates, but here's the scoop. A couple years ago, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner told Pixar to shove it when they asked for more control over their films. So, Pixar decided to make the upcoming film Cars their last movie made under the Disney name and pursue another studio to do business with. Well, that's when Disney executives realized that all the money they're making off movies is thanks mostly to Pixar (and Miramax, which kicked out its creators, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, earlier last year), and they fired Eisner, replacing him with Robert Iger, who offered Steve Jobs $7 billion in Disney stock in a bid for ownership of Pixar. Jobs agreed, Pixar is now owned by Disney, and the world may be spared a Toy Story 3 and Another Bug's Life, now that Pixar's creative leader and co-founder John Lasseter will be chief creative officer of all Disney productions. Of course, this now means that Steve Jobs has a big stake in Apple Computer, Pixar Animation, and Walt Disney Studios. Let's hope his first film idea doesn't involve animated iPods.

UPDATE: It's official. Toy Story 3 is kaputz.

Hall of Awesome: The Next Five Best Albums of 2005 (and Honorable Mentions)

So...where were we?

6. eels, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations

Mark Oliver Everett (the man called "E") has always been the antithesis to popular music. While the Britneys and Justins talk about how pretty they are and how much money they have, E won't stop telling you how ugly he is and how poor he is. The video for "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)" features E simply holding a video camera because he "spent all the money making the new album." And what an album it is. Two discs, thirty-three tracks. And E has never been a musician who's valued quantity over quality. Blinking Lights owes a lot to another famous double album, The Beatles' White Album. Like that double-LP, the songs on Blinking Lights don't seem to flow from one to the other, but there is a unified sound throughout, one that is unmistakably eels-like. E continues to nurture his affection for catchy pop songs (as evidenced by his appearances on the soundtracks for both Shrek movies) by recording tunes like the ethereal "From Which I Came/A Magic World," and the bouncy aforementioned "Hey Man." He even uses his pop palette for self-parody on the laughable "Going Fetal," a dance number featuring a sample of Tom Waits crying like a baby. But its when he's somber and reflective that Blinking Lights truly shines. The instrumentals "Marie Floating Over the Backyard" and "God's Silence" are haunting in their immediacy, and the listener is left amazed that such beauty could be relegated to a simple minute-long interlude track. E reaches his apex with this sprawling album, and no stone is left unturned under his watchful eye. Bottom line: This album has something for everyone, and after multiple listens, it might prove to have more than just something.

7. The Chemical Brothers, Push the Button

The Chemical Brothers have had a long, successful career. Long because they've just released their ten-year singles compilation, and successful because they're one of only about three or four electronica acts you've probably heard of (Moby and Fatboy Slim being two more). This is all good and well except for the fact that up until now, the Brothers (Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands) had hit a snag when it came to crafting solid albums. Their recent efforts, Surrender and Come With Us had some great singles, but the albums never really felt cohesive. Flash forward to 2005 and the release of Push the Button, the album that went relatively unnoticed on most Best Of lists due to its early January release date, but the album that proves to be the Brothers best effort yet. Everything flows with an urgency seldom heard since 1997's Dig Your Own Hole, with the duo seamlessly blending the hard rock breakbeats of their early work with the atmospheric psychedelia of their later albums. The guest appearances are back, but the vocalists (like Kele Okereke of Bloc Party and frequent ChemBros guest Tim Burgess) don't distract from the music; they transcend it, making their vocals just another piece in the Chemical Brothers' electronic puzzle. Bottom line: This is the album for everyone who thought electronica had nothing new to offer and who would very much like to be proven wrong.

8. The Mars Volta, Frances the Mute

The Mars Volta is the ultimate ADD band. They blaze and howl through a mess of guitars, horns, and drums before settling into unnerving electronic beats for the better part of three minutes. Not that I'm complaining. On the contrary, Frances the Mute is one of the best prog-rock releases of 2005, even if the band refuses to call it prog-rock. Like eels (the band, not the animal), The Mars Volta takes their time and crafts four epic tracks and one single, totaling a 76-minute experience that is equal parts disturbing, exhilarating, and hard-rocking. "L'Via L'Vasquez" could've been an old Santana tune if it weren't for its creepy, Pink Floyd-esque coda. The melodies in the songs are catchy enough to merit repeated listenings, and the lyrics are cryptic enough to merit repeating musings and interpretations. Bottom line: If you like your rock albums to confound you while they astound you, this is your disc.

9. Coldplay, X&Y

In 2005, Coldplay faced a slew of criticism, the harshest coming from inside the band as lead singer Chris Martin publicly declared after the release of their third album that Coldplay was working on improving their lyrics. It shouldn't be surprising that he's so self-conscious. This is the big Third Album. They gained a cult following with Parachutes, plunged into the mainstream with A Rush of Blood to the Head, making expectations for X&Y ridiculously high. The truth of the matter is that if you've never been a big fan of Coldplay, X&Y probably won't change your mind anytime soon. For those who are, however, the rewards are plenty. X&Y is Coldplay's most cinematic, most anthemic, and also their longest album (almost twice as long as Parachutes). And while they're lyrics may not be the most brilliant, the persistent catchiness of the melodies more than make up for it. Everyone's already lovin' "Fix You," but what about the equally impressive "Swallowed in the Sea"? Coldplay might be drifting from the enclosed, ambient rock that made the bulk of their early EPs and debut album, but they've taken their unparalleled songwriting skills with them. Bottom line: There's always room for at least one mainstream album in your music collection.

10. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan

Okay, I'm sorry, I meant to say that there's room for two mainstream albums. But, make no mistake, the White Stripes may be selling a ton of records, but they never show it. The raw opening single "Blue Orchid" was just a bait-and-switch for the Stripes as they abruptly jump into marimba mode on the haunting "The Nurse," right before the incessantly catchy "My Doorbell" takes center stage. It's this kind of helter-skelter instrumentation that keeps Get Behind Me Satan consistently interesting and fun to listen to. The hard guitars of "Blue Orchid" rarely make a second appearance, except for the Elephant-esque "Instinct Blues," which neatly segues into the brief Meg White interlude "Passive Manipulation." Instead, mastermind Jack White ops for sparse piano, acoustic guitar, and the aforementioned marimbas. Surprisingly, the best tracks are pushed to the back of the album, like "As Ugly as I Seem," a self-conscious guitar track that wouldn't feel out of place on Rubber Soul, and "I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet)," a beautiful, piano-laden ballad that neatly rounds out this exceptional release by the most consistent act in lo-fi indie rock. Bottom line: The perfect album for those that like their music raw and rugged.

Honorable Mentions:
Ben Folds, Songs for Silverman
Bright Eyes, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
DangerDoom, The Mouse and the Mask
Gorillaz, Demon Days
Hot Hot Heat, Elevator
Josh Rouse, Nashville
Kanye West, Late Registration
Robbers on High Street, Tree City
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Jacksonville City Nights
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Broom
Stars, Set Yourself on Fire
System of a Down, Mesmerize/Hypnotize
The Go! Team, Thunder, Lightning, Strike
The New Pornographers, Twin Cinema
Thievery Corporation, The Cosmic Game
Z-Trip, Shifting Gears

Alright, that's it! I'm finally finished with my Top 10 Albums list! Look for the Best Movies of 2005 coming soon!

Drawn to Pup

Once again, leave it to Drawn! to point out the coolest web-comics. This one's called "Pup Ponders the Heat Death of the Universe" by the very-talented Drew Weing. See more Pup comics here and more of his other comics here.

Thursday Tidbits

• I saw Me and You and Everyone We Know today and I just might have to add it to my Best Movies of 2005 list (date of release still pending). It makes sense that its writer/director/star Miranda July used to be a performance artist. "Quirky" can't even begin to describe this wonderfully bizarre slice-of-life movie.
  
• Chalk this one down for News of the Weird. A man broke into the home of a caricaturist and, fifteen minutes later, the police captured the thief based on a drawing the artist had made for the cops.
  
• Flickr turns two on February 10, six days before I turn 20. Here are some cool photos I wouldn't have found if it weren't for Flickr.

Tokyo gone plastic

I can't stop singing the praises of Tokyo Plastic, one of the coolest ad agencies/Flash animators on the web. Not only have they made bizarre and beautiful ads for Mitsubishi, MTV, and MSN, but their website is a work of art all by itself, and also contains the award-winning Flash short "Drum Machine." Also, check out their other kick-ass shorts "Opera Dude" and "Music Box."

More Photos!

New Hanover Marching Band
Originally uploaded by devpd.

I don't know when I'll ever be able to finish the Hall of Awesome. So here's another cop-out: a bunch of photos I took recently during the annual Martin Luther King Day Parade in downtown Wilmington. My friend Adam told me that he'd be attending, dressed up as the pelican mascot for Wave, the city's transit system.

First off, I didn't know our bus system even had a mascot. Second, I also didn't know that we had a parade on MLK Day. So Nathan, Caroline, Merri and I went to check it out and had a great time. You can see my set of pics here.

Sorry for the lack of updates...

Don't worry; I haven't died. I've just returned to college and have yet to get back in the swing of things. I promise I'll have finally completed the Hall of Awesome by debuting the next five best albums of 2005 as well as the best movies of 2005. Just not right now.

In the meantime, how about them Panthers?? Whoo-hoo!

Box Office Briefing

I find it most amusing that Hostel is the number one movie at the box office this weekend, followed by (ha-ha!) The Chronicles of Narnia. Isn't that wonderfully American? The happy and warm Christian family flick getting beat by the vicious, just-barely-R-rated horror film? I think so.

Anyhoo, I saw The Producers last week with my girlfriend and we both thought that it was one of the funniest films of the year. While the opening scenes had Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick trying a little too hard to be like Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder (the stars of the original film), things picked up a lot after Matthew Broderick did his big number, "I Wanna Be a Producer." It sure is nice to see that old stalwart genre, the Hollywood musical, finally get into the spotlight again. After the runaway success of Moulin Rouge and Chicago, there haven't been all that many other musicals that have sparked anyone's interests. I hope The Producers will change all that. Also, if you go see it, stick around 'till the end of the credits.

I'm also on my way out the door to see The Squid and the Whale, the new film from the co-writer of The Life Aquatic, Noah Baumbach. It made #7 on my list of the best reviewed films of 2005. I'll let you know how that goes.

New Song Added to 15 Megs of Fame

You can download my newest track, "Running Away From Your Problems (Never Solved Them)," by clicking here! Please rate it and/or post a comment! Also, check out my other songs on 15 Megs of Fame. And if that's not enough, download my cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop"!

Hall of Awesome: Top 5 Albums of 2005

It's that moment you've all been waiting for, where I reveal my top 10 album picks of 2005! This also marks the end of the First Annual DiMattiaFilms Hall of Awesome. I hope everyone had as much fun reading these as I did writing them. So, without further ado, let's begin!

1. Devin Davis, Lonely People of the World, Unite!

I don't care if anyone thinks I'm bias for putting a musician whose name is the same as mine at number one. This guy is the real deal. Lonely People of the World, Unite! flows in a way I have rarely heard albums flow before. Every single aspect of this album, from writing to production to instrumentation, is stellar. Lead track "Iron Woman" begins at breakneck speed, with a sense of immediacy rarely heard on an indie rock album. And Davis' driving force never slows down as the album races through ten more songs, each one just as good as the last. His voice may not be as good as those of his contemporaries, but he delivers each vocal track with a wail and a yelp, as if he's betting all he's got on these eleven tracks (which he probably has). Bottom line: This is the record for those who wish bands would just get to the point and stop peppering their albums with pointless filler.

2. The Decemberists, Picaresque

One of the most imaginative albums of the year, The Decemberists pull the ideas for their songs right out of a long-lost Alexandre Dumas novel. Whether they're telling stories of a daydreaming young Indian princess ("The Infanta") or of a pair of shipmates in a giant whale's stomach ("The Mariner's Revenge Song"), you can be assured that The Decemberists will tell it to you in riveting detail using words you've never heard used in songs before. They are also well-experienced in setting the mood. There's the upbeat pomp of the political jab "16 Military Wives," the winner of Catchiest Political Song of 2005, the solemn bass drum of "From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea)," and the highway-chasing acoustic guitars of "The Engine Driver." There's no doubt that if The Decemberists had existed in the 18th century, they would be singing the same songs that they're singing now. Thankfully, they weren't, so you don't have to travel far-and-wide to listen to their well-weathered sound. Bottom line: This is the album for people who are sick and tired of "Yeah, yeah, since you been gone" passing as song lyrics.

3. Sufjan Stevens, Come On Feel the Illinoise!

What can I say about Sufjan Stevens that hasn't already been said by every single weblog in existence? When he's not coming up with paragraph-length song titles, he's crafting some of the most beautiful and well-orchestrated indie rock ever made. Even though his 50-state project may ultimately end up too daunting to be completed, at least Illinois will be around for our listening pleasure. Bottom line: This is the best album about Illinois to come out in 2005. It's also pretty damn good in every other aspect, too.

4. Oasis, Don't Believe the Truth

Up until now, every artist on this list has been new to my ears. Leave it to Oasis to deliver a blast from the past while staying just as relevant and just as groundbreaking. After the stumble-and-fall of their previous two albums, they find their footing and release Don't Believe the Truth, one of the best albums of their career. Listening to these eleven amazing songs, it's almost like nothing happened between this album and their previous masterpiece, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. Their guitars blaze, the drums (by Ringo Starr's son, Zak) are triumphant, and Noel and Liam trade off vocals with relative ease. Bottom line: This is the 2005 album for those who want to party like it's 1995.

5. Andrew Bird, The Mysterious Production of Eggs

Andrew Bird has always been the diamond in the rough as far as musical talent was concerned. He added a dark and seductive touch to any Squirrel Nut Zippers song he was invited to perform violin on. His own band, Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, also released wildly varying albums, the best of which was 2001's The Swimming Hour. Now, he's on his own and after releasing a sweeping EP, Weather Systems, he's ready to blow our minds with the Nick Drake-meets-prog-rock opus The Mysterious Production of Eggs. None of his brilliantly-crafted tunes follows any sort of traditional structure. Just when you think you've figured out the melody of a certain song, he pulls the melodic carpet out from under you. He also makes use of his large vocabulary, crafting stories like the one in "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left," about the destruction of the world because of a neglected tanker filled with HAZMAT...I think. Bottom line: This is the "fine wine" album, one that's bitter upon first taste, but proves its worth with every repeated listen.

(GASP!) It took me forever just to write those five reviews, so I'll take a breather and post the next five later.

Catbird Records, with the DiMattiaFilms 200% Quality Guarantee!

As many of my frequent readers know, I am a huge fan of Catbird Records, the extremely indie record label created by Ryan of The Catbirdseat music blog. Well, he's just added two new releases to the Catbird Records lineup, Get Him Eat Him's Do As I Tell You EP, which is out now, and Hemstead's Untitled, which will be released next month. As always, they are very limited editions and are also very, very cheap, and the music kicks ass, so what're you waiting for? Some MP3s? Oh, okay, I have some...

MP3s: (right-click, save as)
Get Him Eat Him, "Exposure"
Hemstad, "Fyllekärring (Demo)"
Hemstad, "Sommar i Göteborg (Demo)"

Top 50 Music Videos of 2005

I have figured out where I am going to spend the rest of my Internet time for the next few weeks, and that's gonna be at DoCopenhagen's list of the Top 50 Music Videos of 2005. Not only does he show screencaps of all the videos, but he is gracious enough to include links to every single one of them, providing hours of music video satisfaction. His pick for #1, the Aphex Twin/Chris Cunningham collaboration "Rubber Johnny," is one of the most disturbing and mind-blowing things ever put on video.

Best Reviewed Films of 2005

Before I start listing my picks for the best movies of 2005, here are the top 20 best reviewed films of 2005, according to Rotten Tomatoes. Now, their complete list includes any film with 20 or more reviewers, but I've condensed that list down to movies with 100 or more reviewers, simply because out of all the films on their list, only about 20 or 30% are films that have received a wide release. Also, please note that three of the top five films are documentaries. Just an interesting sidenote.

So, without further ado:

1. Murderball
   
2. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
   
3. Good Night, and Good Luck
   
4. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
   
5. March of the Penguins
   
6. The Squid and the Whale
   
7. Grizzly Man
   
8. Capote
   
9. Downfall
   
10. Kung Fu Hustle
    
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
    
12. Millions
    
13. Brokeback Mountain
    
14. A History of Violence
    
15. Broken Flowers
    
16. Pride and Prejudice
    
17. Howl's Moving Castle
    
18. Gunner Palace
    
19. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
    
20. Junebug

A Closer Look at the Movies of 2006

Just went through Apple's movie trailer database and unearthed some promising upcoming films. Among my favorites is the trailer for Thank You For Smoking, a satire about the tobacco industry. Also of interest is American Dreamz, another vicious satire of both the President and reality television. One of the more cryptic entries is the Kubrick-esque trailer for Bubble, a new film by Steven Soderbergh about the murder of a doll factory employee. Of course, the teaser trailer for Mel Gibson's new film Apocalypto looks interesting. Also worth mentioning is Marie Antoinette, the new film by Sofia Coppola starring Kirsten Dunst in the title role, along with Jason Schwartzman.

And then there's the trailers for upcoming computer animated features: DreamWorks is turning the popular comic strip Over the Hedge into a movie, The Weinstein Company is going to take a stab at fairytales a la Shrek with their Red Riding Hood parody Hoodwinked, and Nickelodeon is jumping on the CGI bandwagon with their film Barnyard. And then, of course, there's Cars, which will undoubtedly crush the competition because Pixar is God and you dare not challenge them!

If you've seen an interesting movie trailer recently, post a link to it in the comments! I'm always on the lookout for interesting and bizarre new films!

Hall of Awesome: Best Songs of 2005 Mixtape!

It's hard to pick your favorite albums of 2005. There are so many out there, most of which are excellent, but some are simply better than others. So, to give a second chance to the albums that didn't make the final cut, I've decided to cull one song from each to include in my Best Songs of 2005 Mixtape! These are not listed in order of preference, just the order in which they sound best in mixtape form. You can download the entire ZIP file (broadband connections preferred; it's over 70 MB) by clicking the YouSendIt link at the bottom of this post. Here's the tracklisting (along with brief reviews for select songs):

1. Bloc Party, "Like Eating Glass"
2. The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, "Concerning Lessons Learned from the Aliens"

I'll admit; the long-winded titles this band uses are ridiculous, but this song is a great one. Recommended by Funtime Ben over at Tracks Up the Tree, Prayers and Tears is a one-man band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and while the rest of the album (aptly titled The Mother of Love Emulates the Shape of Cynthia) doesn't hold up as well as this song, it's still an interesting listen.

3. Spoon, "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine"
4. United State of Electronica, "It Is On!"
5. Ben Folds, "Jesusland"
6. Bright Eyes, "Another Travelin' Song"
7. Death Cab for Cutie, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"
8. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, "Oregon Girl"

Recipient of DiMattiaFilms' Band of the Year Award

9. Rogue Wave, "California"
10. Franz Ferdinand, "Eleanor Put Your Boots On"
11. Gorillaz feat. De La Soul, "Feel Good Inc."
12. Robbers on High Street, "Spanish Teeth"
13. Embrace, "Gravity"

The best song Coldplay wrote in 2005 wasn't sung by them. In fact, they wrote this song for Brit-rockers Embrace, whom Coldplay had toured with in the past. Look for Coldplay's version to appear on the upcoming single for "Talk."

14. The Soundtrack of Our Lives, "Transcendental Suicide"

Not much stood out on TSOOL's Origin Vol. I, their follow-up album to 2003's astounding Behind the Music. Not much except for this killer six-minute rock opus.

15. Imogen Heap, "Hide and Seek"
BONUS TRACK: Z-Trip feat. Supernatural and Murs, "Breakfast Club"

DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE SHEBANG HERE! Once again, the link's expired. Plus, I've thrown away the original ZIP file. You'll just have to wait until I release the Best Songs of 2006 mixtape, I guess.

Hall of Awesome: Oscar Predictions for 2005

I think I've seen enough movies this year to make some solid predictions as to who's going to be up for a statue next year. Here are my predictions for the nominees for the 2005 Academy Awards:

Best Picture
Good Night, and Good Luck
King Kong
Munich
A History of Violence
Crash

Best Actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence
David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck
Eric Bana, Munich
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line

Best Actress
Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Charlize Theron, North Country
Naomi Watts, King Kong
Keira Knightley, Pride and Prejudice

Best Supporting Actor
George Clooney, Syriana or Good Night, and Good Luck
Richard Jenkins, North Country
William Hurt, A History of Violence
Don Cheadle, Crash
Jack Black, King Kong

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bello, A History of Violence
Amy Adams, Junebug
Catherine Keener, Capote or The 40-Year-Old Virgin :-)
Thandie Newton, Crash
Frances McDormand, North Country

Best Director
Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, Sin City
Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Peter Jackson, King Kong
David Cronenberg, A History of Violence

Best Animated Feature
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Corpse Bride
Howl's Moving Castle

Best Original Screenplay
Judd Apatow and Steve Carell, The 40-Year-Old Virgin (it's wishful thinking, I know)
Angus MacLachlan, Junebug
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash
Woody Allen, Match Point
Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale

Best Adapted Screenplay
Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, Munich
Stephen Gaghan, Syriana
Frank Miller, Sin City
Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, Batman Begins
Michael Seitzman, North Country

Best Original Score
Yo La Tengo, Junebug
Mark Isham, Crash
John Williams, Munich or Memoirs of a Geisha
Danny Elfman, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
James Newton Howard, King Kong

Useless Fact: The Last Post was the 200th Post!

I'm sorry that I haven't been delivering any new chapters to the DiMattiaFilms Hall of Awesome. I've just started writing a new short subject entitled A Loss for Words and I've been hard at work on it these past couple days. I promise to add the final segments (Best Music and Best Movies of the Year) within the next couple weeks.

Best Editorial Cartoons of 2005

NPR asked editorial cartoonists Mike Luckovich and Mike Peters to list their favorite pieces of 2005. Here's what they picked.

Here are my favorites from this article:











Thanks to Drawn!

Quote of the Day

"I have this sort of Mr. Magoo career. It looks like I'm about to fall on my face, but somehow that construction beam always slides into place."

--Seth MacFarlane, in an interview with Rolling Stone

Post-Christmas Report

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! My family and I just went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe yesterday and we were thoroughly entertained. While the climactic battle sequence at the end was a bit too much like Lord of the Rings Lite, the beginning and middle were enthralling, the dialogue was very witty and wasn't purely plot-driven, the acting was superb (a breakthrough performance for Tilda Swinton as the White Witch), and for this cynical film buff, it was a breath of fresh air in a holiday season that's churning out bad excuses for "family films" like Yours, Mine and Ours and Cheaper By the Dozen 2. With Narnia, Walt Disney Pictures might just get out of the hole they've dug themselves into.

Merry Christmas!

Since I don't know if I'll get a chance to post later tonight, I just want to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Happy Kwanzaa, and all the other December-related holidays people are celebrating! I got off of work at 10 AM and am finally free of any and all obligations...at least until the 26th! Here are a few of my favorite Christmas songs to get everyone in the mood. Please enjoy with a heaping glass of eggnog or hot chocolate with marshmallows (real marshmallows, not those pitifully tiny ones that come in the Swiss Miss packets!!)

MP3s: (right click, save-as)
Ray Charles, "This Time of the Year"
Vince Guaraldi Trio, "Christmas Time is Here"
Squirrel Nut Zippers, "Sleigh Ride"
The Flaming Lips, "A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn't So)"

Something different for Christmas

Christmas is almost upon us and every year, I try to look for different or unusual-sounding Christmas albums. This year, I came across Bright Eyes' A Christmas Album, which is only available for purchase from the Saddle Creek online store. It's just eleven bucks, and all the proceeds go to the Nebraska AIDS Project. It's a bizarre-sounding Christmas album (especially during the flourishes of electronic noise in "Away in a Manger" and "Little Drummer Boy"), but when Conor Oberst hits just the right blend of classic holiday atmosphere with an indie-rock texture, it's a wonderful thing.

MP3s:
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
"Silver Bells"

When I bought the album, it came with a signed Bright Eyes postcard, but can anyone tell me who it's signed by? My first guess would be Conor Oberst, but I can't make that name out of the scrawled signature. The first line is obviously "THX," meaning "Thanks." Anyone wanna take a crack at the rest?

Also, I've received little or no comments on my Hall of Awesome entries. What do you guys think of them? Are they providing actual insight or are they just coming off sounding like Pitchfork Lite? (Also, I've added Hall of Awesome links to the sidebar for easy access.)

Hall of Awesome: Best Compilation

• Jens Lekman, Oh You're So Silent Jens
  One of the most intimate and heartbreaking musicians out there right now is Swedish singer/songwriter Jens Lekman. Coming off as a witty cross between Beck, Nick Drake, and early Todd Rundgren, Lekman has a distinctive sound to his music, as well as a distinctive voice, showing that while he may not have mastered the English dialect, he has certainly mastered its vocabulary. "A man walks into a bar/orders a scotch and a bottle of coke/But the laughter has gone in his heart/You never told me the end of the joke," he laments on his new album Oh You're So Silent Jens, a compilation of EP tracks and rarities, but could as easily be confused for a full-length LP, as each song fits beautifully among the others. Lekman not only shows songwriting prowess, he also proves his worth behind the soundboard. All of Lekman's vocals have an eerie echo effect added, making it sound like the entire album was recorded in some long-abandoned high school auditorium. The lo-fi quality of the recordings lend to the intimacy of the songs, making the clean, seemingly effortless acoustic guitar appearing at the start of "Black Cab" quite jarring, but equally entertaining. Other songs stand out as well: the cut-and-paste bells of "Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song," making it sound like a Jem outtake; the dark humor of "F-Word," complete with a radio-friendly chorus; and the soothing "Maple Leaves," featuring every bell and whistle (literally) at Lekman's disposal. You'd be hard pressed to find a single bad song on this album. Oh You're So Silent Jens is a perfect introduction to this talented musician, and also succeeds on its own terms as an album that's scientifically designed to be enjoyed most anywhere: in a car, at home, at work, but most importantly, with someone you love. Visit Lekman's official website where you can download a ton of rare and unreleased tracks.
  
  
  MP3s:
  
  • "Black Cab"
    
  • "At the Department of Forgotten Songs"
    
  • "Pocketful of Money"
    
  • "F-Word"
    
  • "The Wrong Hands"

UPDATE: Sorry, I never got around to posting the honorable mentions. Here they are:

• Belle and Sebastian, Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
  Belle and Sebastian are one of the few bands that continue the tradition of releasing non-album singles and EPs. They also use these breaks to their advantage by placing on their EPs songs that break new ground but probably wouldn't fit on any of their proper albums. Push Barman to Open Old Wounds collects all of this material on two CDs and it's a collection any fan should not be without, especially since some of their finest work is showcased here.
  
  • MP3: "Slow Graffiti"
  
  
• Various Artists, Verve Remixed 3
  While it's not as solid as Verve Records' previous collection of remixed jazz tunes, it still has a lot of quality stuff, including excellent remixes from indie musicians like The Postal Service, The Album Leaf, Bent, and Dangermouse.
  
  • MP3: Nina Simone, "Little Girl Blue (Postal Service Remix)"

UPDATE #2: All of the Jens Lekman MP3's have been removed from his website. In place of them, Lekman is offering up his first three tour EPs free to download.

Today on the George Carlin Calendar

"Thanks to our fear of death, no one ever has to die; they can all just pass away. Or expire, like a magazine subscription. If it happens in the hospital, it will be called a terminal episode. The insurance company will refer to it as negative patient-care outcome. And if it's the result of malpractice, they'll say it was a therapeutic misadventure."

Hall of Awesome: Best New Artist

• Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
  Not only did they handcraft one of the catchiest songs of 2005 ("Oregon Girl"), they made an excellent album (Broom), a kickass split-CD (Catbird Records' Someone Still Loves You Michael Holt), and they made Spin Magazine's "Sign This Band Now!" list. Is there anything this Springfield quartet can't do? As if two new albums (as well as a new MP3 posted on their site every week) weren't enough, they've just announced that for $40, they'll send you a cassette tape of alternate takes, covers, and new material every month in 2006! And while Broom may not be the best album of the year, SSLYBY have proven themselves to be the most consistent and most giving band of 2005, and that's gotta be worth something, right?

MP3s:
"Oregon Girl" (from Broom)
"House Fire" (from Broom)
"Lower the Gas Prices, Howard Johnson" (from Someone Still Loves You Michael Holt)

Guerolito

All Music Guide just posted an interesting review of Beck's Guerolito, a companion disc to his last album Guero, featuring remixes of all the songs. The reviewer gives us a glimpse at how remix culture has affected music in 2005, and shows how albums like Guerolito are using that idea of the never-ending, constantly repackaged and remixed album. Also up for analysis is Silent Alarm Remixed by Bloc Party.

In other news: Guero makes my list of mediocre albums of 2005.

Most Disappointing Albums of 2005

NOTE: None of these albums are "bad," per se. They just have some really bad songs on them, or they're not up to snuff with the musicians' previous releases.

• Daft Punk, Human After All
  The title of this one really says it all. Daft Punk waited four whole years before they delivered a follow-up to their 2001 opus Discovery. So, why did they decide to spend a measly two weeks recording it? With so much riding on this release, is an album with just ten tracks (nine if you don’t count a 30-second interlude), most of which consist of one semi-catchy electronic riff repeated for four minutes, really worth the wait?
  
  
• Lemon Jelly, '64-‘95
  Lemon Jelly has traditionally been the “diamond in the rough” as far as electronic groups are concerned. Their warm, sunny acoustic guitars and playful melodies would make them the perfect music to play on Sesame Street, if Sesame Street had a disco. But with their newest album, they get bland, boring, and jarringly repetitive. Take the song “Don’t Stop Now,” in which a whispery voice repeats the title for seven minutes straight! Even songs that appear to be good in theory (like “The Slow Train” sampling a barbershop quartet) come off poorly in execution. Lead single “Stay With You” sounded great in a radio edit, but on the album, they pushed the lead vocal all the way back to the three-minute mark. Still, it doesn’t stop Lemon Jelly from pulling out a zinger. “Go,” the final track on the album, features a dark and hushed vocal performance from none other than William Shatner, and ends with a blazing rock finale. At least they know how to end with a bang.
  
  
• Röyksopp, The Understanding
  Röyksopp had delivered a solid debut album, 2001’s Melody A.M, featuring “Poor Leno,” my pick for one of the best electronic singles of all-time. But on their second album, they opt out of the organic production values that made that first record so great. Instead, they deliver an album that's all gloss, with a squeaky clean mix and no songs that compare to past hits like “Poor Leno” and the music box anthem “Eple.” Lead single “Only This Moment” is decent, but it’s not hard to imagine any electronic act in Europe churning it out. Melody A.M. delivered something distinctive in the tiresome electronic scene, but with The Understanding, it feels like Röyksopp is apologizing for trying to sound different from everybody else.

Albums That Were Decent (But Could've Been Better):

• Beck, Guero
  C’mon, Beck. Some of these tracks are alright (as a matter of fact, “Earthquake Weather” is one of your best), but don’t try to pass off “Hell Yes” as an actual song! No wonder you tried to get every DJ you could find to remix your album. Let’s hope they breathe some life into these bland tracks.
  
  
• Morcheeba, The Antidote
  Let’s see. Morcheeba replaces lead vocalist Skye Edwards with a Shirley Bassey clone and they end up with an album that sounds like it was made by Bassey, not by Morcheeba. How come no one saw that coming?

Alright, enough with the negatives! Best New Artist and Best Compilation are coming soon!

New header added!

So, I decided to download the 30-day free trial of Flash 8 and, within an hour, I put together the awesome Flash version of the DiMattiaFilms logo that you now see above this post (if not, you probably need to download the Flash player). Pretty soon, I'll try adding buttons to the header, so it'll be easier for new visitors to find my short films, the online store, and how to e-mail me. Please send me an e-mail or leave a comment if you've got an idea as to how I can improve this website!

New Catbird release!

Pet Politics' In My Head EP, the new release from Catbird Records, is now shipping! Get your hands on them before they're all gone!

Plus, when you buy it, you get to see a picture of the lead singer of Interpol playing ping-pong! Tell me that's not worth four bucks!

Pet Politics, "The Ghost Mary & Her Friends" (MP3)

Previously: I talk about the first release from Catbird Records, and post MP3s from it.

War of the Worst

Before I start the next part of the Hall of Awesome, I just want to say I saw a commercial during “The Daily Show” for King Kong and the song they had playing in the background? It was “Fix You” by Coldplay! I mean, I understand you gotta sell this movie to the ladies, but don’t get Chris Martin to do your dirty work for you! Instead, just pepper the ad with clips of Adrian Brody. Easy.

Alright, let’s get it on! Today, we’ll venture into the dark, musty attic of the Hall of Awesome for a segment I like to call: The Drawer of Disappointment!

Worst Movie of 2005:

• War of the Worlds
  Apparently, people must’ve been calling Steven Spielburg a pussy for not making any movies with bad aliens, ‘cause he pulled out all the stops and made the most blatant reason for putting everyone on Zoloft. War of the Worlds was the most depressing film of the year, featuring human beings meticulously slaughtered and harvested by aliens in nearly every scene, and when a scene appeared without aliens, it usually involved angry mobs fighting over a working automobile or having Dakota Fanning stumble across a river of corpses when she’s trying to find a place to use the bathroom. Now, some people were telling me that that’s the whole point of the movie, that it’s intended to be depressing. I don’t have a problem with movies that are depressing (Mystic River, for one). What I do have a problem with are movies that constantly repeat its initially-gripping first scene over and over again, each time in a different locale, each time with the same result. Not even Tim Robbins (who, oddly enough, was the best thing about Mystic River) could regenerate interest, especially since Spielburg gave him nothing to do, except to be quickly killed off by Tom Cruise. It’s not like Spielburg had been hitting a snag. On the contrary, Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can are two of his best films, and if Munich gets released before the end of the year, he might be responsible for the worst and the best film of 2005.

(Dis)honorable Mention:

• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
  I think I’ve figured out why I just plain don’t like the new Star Wars trilogy. Look at the original films and notice how the main characters are loners, outcasts, and if they are royalty (like Princess Leia), they are so only by name. Now look at the new films. They’re about queens and princes who have pretty much everything, except dialogue that audiences would find interesting. George Lucas took the blandest of actors (and if they weren’t bland, like Ewan MacGregor, he gave them enough bad dialogue to make them bland) and made them stand in front of a blue screen as he had his effects team working overtime devising new and amazing things to have happen around the actors. Episode III took us full-circle, making us, as an audience, realize how far Lucas had strayed from his original vision. The film’s final scenes say it all. We almost sense Lucas hurrying in the last few minutes to quickly tie up all the loose ends, like a college student penning his graduate thesis ten minutes before its deadline. What made the original Star Wars movies good was the fact that Lucas knew what his limits were. Now his library of special effects is unlimited, and his films, sadly, are worse off for it.

Alright, the worst music of 2005 and the best new artist are coming up!

Grammyz for Gorillaz?

Self-proclaimed fake band Gorillaz have just been nominated for five Grammys: Record of the Year, Best Pop Collaboration w/Vocals, Best Music Video (all for kickass lead single "Feel Good Inc."), Best Producer (Danger Mouse), and...Best Urban Alternative Performance? For "Dirty Harry"!?

Don't get me wrong. A song featuring a children's choir singing about needing guns is probably about as urban alternative as it gets.

When informed of their five Grammy nods, bassist Murdoc had this to say: "I hear Grammys go for a really good price on E-bay."

Previously: Gorillaz perform at the Europe VMA's.

Hall of Awesome, Part 2

Alright, ladies and gentlemen! Here's part 2 (of an estimated 102 parts) of the 2005 DiMattiaFilms Hall of Awesome: the best of movies and music for the halfway mark of the first decade of the new millennium.*

Best CD Packaging:

• Michael Holt/Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Someone Still Loves You Michael Holt
  One of the coolest album packages I've ever had the pleasure of owning (at least until Catbird Records releases their next album), this split LP between Holt and recent indie-darlings SSLYBY featured 250 individually-painted album covers and a hand-bound notebook. Pretty damn awesome, if you ask me. Sadly, they've sold all their copies, so if you're looking for an album that's probably much easier to find...
  
  
• Gorillaz, Demon Days: Special Edition
  While I don't know if it's worth paying $10 more for than the regular album, the package is beautiful, complete with a fold out cover featuring drawings of all four Gorillaz members, as well as a booklet smothered with kickass Jamie Hewlett artwork, lyrics, and a bonus DVD featuring the video for "Feel Good Inc." It looks like Amazon's got it used for thirteen bucks. I say go for it.

Best Album Artwork:
(click on the pictures for a larger view)

• Andrew Bird, The Mysterious Production of Eggs (Jay Ryan)
  The illustrations of Jay Ryan are equal parts whimsical and slightly unnerving, like a children's book written by Crispin Glover.
  
  
  
  
  
• Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Zack Nipper)
  Beautiful patchwork adorns this album cover. My only question is who ended up with the blanket afterwards?
  
  
  
  
  
• The Chemical Brothers, Push the Button (Kam Tang)
  Kam Tang's artwork for the Brothers' latest strays from the psychedelic nature of their last two albums and instead is inspired by the work of Saul Bass. Very cool, indeed.
  
  
  
  
• The Mars Volta, Frances the Mute (Storm Thorgerson, Peter Curzon, Dan Abbott, Bill Thorgerson)
  Storm Thorgerson is always interesting, even after years and years of crafting bizarre and disturbing album covers for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and hundreds of others. Now, he takes Mars Volta's musical ideas and translates them visually, making the artwork for Frances the Mute almost as important as the music itself.
  
  
• Various Artists, Verve Remixed 3 (Hollis King, audio sculpture by David Ellis)
  The cool audio sculptures of David Ellis make for an easy translation to album covers.

Coming soon! We'll all get a little depressed as I talk about the Worst Movies of the Year and the Most Disappointing Albums of the Year!!

As always, feel free to discuss your favorite album cover and/or package in the comments!

*This phrase has probably already been copyrighted by VH1.

New Movie for Download!

For some reason, Blogger deleted my last post, so here it is again.

You can now download my final project for Intro to Film Production, entitled Dollars Don't Discriminate, off of my short movies page! Let me know what you think of it in the comments!