Thursday, May 29, 2003
What have I been doing today?
Aphex Twin- 26 Mixes For Cash
I've always found myself deeply ambivalent about the work of the Twin, which this collection does nothing to dispel. Despite the sizeable body of work available I've always found it difficult to dispell the notion that most of the time James isn't putting much effort in to what he produces. There's the story of how, called up by Saint Etienne for a remix that he was supposed to have delivered by that day he simply gave them a track he'd done himself and said it was a remix. When he put out the Drukq's double album last year there was barely enough decent material to fill a single album. Too much of the time he not only foregoes tunes, fair enough, but then also neglects to replace them with interesting sounds instead. It's as though he feels making music is beneath him.
Thankfully this collection is a little better, though not knowing most of the source material it's difficult to judge whether they are good remixes or 36 Saint Etienne's. However, it's only with the remix of the orchestral version of David Bowies 'Heroes' that it grabs one's attention, mainly due to the dynamic nature of the original, which shines through the Twin's faffing about. It's not awful by any means, simply unremarkable, and if it were almost anyone else I suspect questions would be asked as to why they'd consider such a collection of remixes worthy of being put out.
Donnie Darko
If you didn't see this when it was at the cinema, get the video or DVD. If you did see it at the cinema, get the DVD or video and watch it again. A second viewing has raised this film in my estimation from 'good' to 'extremely good'. For those who don't know, Donnie is a 'disturbed teenager' who is saved from certain death when an airplane engine crashes into his room by a six-foot tall deaths-headed rabbit called Frank who calmly informs him that the world is going to end in four weeks. Oh, and it's set about 14 years ago. 'Invisibles' comic fans should definitely watch this film, as should Lynch-heads.As Donnie Jake Gyllenhaal is superb, imbuing his performance with a tension so that you're never quite sure if he's going to flip out at any moment. There's also a performance from Patrick Swayze that should do for his career what Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta.
I differ from some of my friends in feeling that the fact that a certain amount of 'whys' are left unexplained by the film and this is a bad thing but the supplemental material on the disk helps. In the end this is not a fantasy story but a love story, and a very good one. And in places a funny one as well. Beautifully shot, it's only let down by occasionally uninspired music, rather bland orchestral scores against some 'period' music,such as Joy Division or Duran Duran, which I think it should have been all the way through (and I never thought I'd hear myself suggesting that there should be MORE Duran Duran music in a film).
Oh, and I appear to be
Which Donnie Darko character are you? by Shay
Aphex Twin- 26 Mixes For Cash
I've always found myself deeply ambivalent about the work of the Twin, which this collection does nothing to dispel. Despite the sizeable body of work available I've always found it difficult to dispell the notion that most of the time James isn't putting much effort in to what he produces. There's the story of how, called up by Saint Etienne for a remix that he was supposed to have delivered by that day he simply gave them a track he'd done himself and said it was a remix. When he put out the Drukq's double album last year there was barely enough decent material to fill a single album. Too much of the time he not only foregoes tunes, fair enough, but then also neglects to replace them with interesting sounds instead. It's as though he feels making music is beneath him.
Thankfully this collection is a little better, though not knowing most of the source material it's difficult to judge whether they are good remixes or 36 Saint Etienne's. However, it's only with the remix of the orchestral version of David Bowies 'Heroes' that it grabs one's attention, mainly due to the dynamic nature of the original, which shines through the Twin's faffing about. It's not awful by any means, simply unremarkable, and if it were almost anyone else I suspect questions would be asked as to why they'd consider such a collection of remixes worthy of being put out.
Donnie Darko
If you didn't see this when it was at the cinema, get the video or DVD. If you did see it at the cinema, get the DVD or video and watch it again. A second viewing has raised this film in my estimation from 'good' to 'extremely good'. For those who don't know, Donnie is a 'disturbed teenager' who is saved from certain death when an airplane engine crashes into his room by a six-foot tall deaths-headed rabbit called Frank who calmly informs him that the world is going to end in four weeks. Oh, and it's set about 14 years ago. 'Invisibles' comic fans should definitely watch this film, as should Lynch-heads.As Donnie Jake Gyllenhaal is superb, imbuing his performance with a tension so that you're never quite sure if he's going to flip out at any moment. There's also a performance from Patrick Swayze that should do for his career what Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta.
I differ from some of my friends in feeling that the fact that a certain amount of 'whys' are left unexplained by the film and this is a bad thing but the supplemental material on the disk helps. In the end this is not a fantasy story but a love story, and a very good one. And in places a funny one as well. Beautifully shot, it's only let down by occasionally uninspired music, rather bland orchestral scores against some 'period' music,such as Joy Division or Duran Duran, which I think it should have been all the way through (and I never thought I'd hear myself suggesting that there should be MORE Duran Duran music in a film).
Oh, and I appear to be
Which Donnie Darko character are you? by Shay
