Covering the crossroads of music and film.
Good grief Holiday
By Brandon Kim on 12/24/2009
I've been watching the obligatory holiday favorites, a bit of "White Christmas" and the like though I can't keep my attention fixed on them or keep away from the laptop for long. The beloved holiday Star Wars marathon is the only thing I find myself unable to look away from, even some of the new trilogy, which lies somewhere between horrid and mediocre. What really surprises me is how awful the cartoony CGI looks in these films - compared to the hand made sets of the originals - which was the only thing they had going for them, outside of... MORE »
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Q & A with On Fillmore's Darin Gray and Glenn Kotche
By Brandon Kim on 12/23/2009
Filed under: The Intersection
I went about arranging an interview with Darin Gray and Glenn Kotche, aka On Fillmore, after their November release Extended Vacation to talk about it and these films they've been scoring, which was covered here yesterday. They both thought I should take the leap and "grab the monkey." As soon as I finish decorating this fake plastic Christmas tree to the sounds of Extended Vacation, I'm going to do just that. [Darin Gray and Glenn Kotche of On Fillmore. Photo by Nathan Kaye] Your sound lends itself well to the scoring horror films it seems, though I doubt one would... MORE »
Darin Gray and WILCO's Glenn Kotche, On Fillmore + smut film
By Brandon Kim on 12/22/2009
Filed under: The Intersection
Somewhere in the five hour space along the route between St. Louis and Chicago, lies a place called On Fillmore. There you'll find Glenn Kotche (WILCO) and improv-bassist extraordinaire Darin Gray (Dazzling Killmen, Brise-Glace, Jim O'Rourke) building a world out of bass and percussion, haunting it with vibraphones and pretty birds. [Darin Gray and Glenn Kotche of On Fillmore. Photo by Nathan Kaye] The duo conceived of the this experimental project while on tour with Jim O'Rourke, who mused that they were "the rhythm section's revenge." They have since released several albums, collaborating from their aforementioned respective Midwestern cities, the... MORE »
Brittany Murphy, Interrupted
By Brandon Kim on 12/21/2009
Filed under: The refrain
I have been awake for over 30 hours, having tried what should have been a simple preemptive Christmas flight that instead left me re-routed, then stranded in Indianapolis, then stranded in Orlando, neither of which I intended to go to in the first place. At one of these dreary, fluorescent-lit airport trysts, I met a girl bound for Milwaukee who was a dead ringer for (brunette) Brittany Murphy. That vibrant, scene stealing Brittany Murphy we all love from the likes of "8 mile" or "The Dead Girl." We talked for a while about how jacked we both were and she... MORE »
Anni Rossi helps save Christmas music with "Silver Bells"
By Brandon Kim on 12/18/2009
Filed under: Revolutions Per Minute
Chicago's Anni Rossi has a Christmas EP out just in time to replace that Mannheim Steamroller cd your parents are about to start playing non-stop for the next 2 weeks. Rossi's one of those girls who was classically trained since the age of 3, and now 23, is a talented viola-heavy multi-instrumentalist, and chanteuse. [Anni Rossi, photo by Rollin Hunt] She recorded her debut album, Rockwell, with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago and released it earlier this year on 4AD which you can check out here. The Christmas Songs EP is free, all you have to do is... MORE »
The Swell Season - "Low Rising," directed by Sam Beam
By Brandon Kim on 12/17/2009
Filed under: The Intersection
If Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova had emerged a bit earlier in the 00's, I think they'd be eligible for feel good couple of the decade. I touched on their band Swell Season back in September when their single, "Low Rising" came out. And that was after a couple Grammy wins and an Oscar win for Best Original Song, "Falling Slowly" for the indie film, "Once," in which they also starred. This video for "Low Rising" seals it. An adorable and not too gushy take on the doldrums of modern relationships, the veils that dampen them, and how there's no... MORE »
Jeff Bridges on Crazy Heart
By Brandon Kim on 12/16/2009
Filed under: Reel to Reel
Word has it that Fox Searchlight, after "Amelia" crashed, is banking on first time director Scott Cooper's, "Crazy Heart" to bring home the Oscar this year (and pay that hefty electric bill they must have). Can you believe Jeff Bridges doesn't have an Oscar? That's just a damn embarrassment for that institution, and I bet you they try to correct it this award season. More interesting than that naked golden crusader speculation though (really, it's a knight with a crusader sword) is the film itself which basically came together when a group of Bridges friends came on board. Bridges has... MORE »
Owen Pallett's Final Fantasy, Rabbit Hole
By Brandon Kim on 12/15/2009
Filed under: Revolutions Per Minute
You're forgiven if you've ever been confused about Owen Pallet's band Final Fantasy, the video game/anime/film series is crazy enough. Maybe you thought it was just another part of that media franchise. I did until I started reading about this Owen Pallet's many musical collaborations. These include bands like Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, Beirut, Mountain Goats and even Pet Shop Boys - which I suspect might be heroes of his. Then of course, there was his last album, 2006's He Poos Clouds, a musical exploration of death and atheism through the application of a belief system known as Dungeons and... MORE »
Califone's Tim Rutili cuts album + feature film
By Brandon Kim on 12/14/2009
Filed under: The Intersection
What's better than a new Califone record? One that was created as a soundtrack alongside a film of course! "All My Friends Are Funeral Singers" is both the title of Califone's new record which you have hopefully heard by now, and forthcoming film. Singer/songwriter Tim Rutili conceived of the album and the film together writing and directing while watching tons of surrealist films. Califone has ten records alone and considering his band Red Red Meat from the 90's, Rutili isn't a stranger to cutting records. He has even a developed a small repertoire of scores and soundtracks ("The Lost," "Stranger... MORE »
Songs of the Naughts
By Brandon Kim on 12/09/2009
Filed under: The refrain
Dear fellow survivor of the Naughts decade (so far), I want you to know about this corner of IFC called The Naughts Project in case you have not come across it yet. It's one of those cheeky/depressing, hopefully amusing, maybe even thought provoking decade-end round ups we only get to do, well, about every 10 years. See the case I make for the most emblematic song as I take you briefly down the 00's memory lane, and touch on some major musical contenders: Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Brooks & Dunn, Outkast.... along with the drivel of some guy called Perez Hilton.... MORE »
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