Dearest Cory's Blog subscriber,

Here to tell you I'm pulling up stakes and moving my blog to Blogspot.com -- so now, it's at coryscalhoun.blogspot.com.

I've recently posted a few new items, including a photo version of those "what have you done with your top 6?" bulletin quizzes.

I'll still post update alerts on MySpace...but instead of the usual MySpace blog, there'll be a link connecting to a post at the new place.

OR, if you're so inclined, you can just subscribe to the new one. Whatever shellacs your mahogany.

Cheers!

Cory

Here's my track-by-track breakdown review of TMBG's new album, "The Else." As with every album, they broaden their sound while still retaining the intelligence and quirkiness (they hate that word, but sorry) they're known for. Trust me, you're gonna like it, even if you're not a big fan. Great for both hardcore and fair-weather fans, as well as newbies.

Not the usual big bouncy TMBG album starter, but a good signal for the shift of the album. It's lower-key, and has a very 80's synth pop vibe.

On paper, this sounds like it should be a lackluster Flans effort, but it's got awesome instrumentation and arrangement, and the lyrics don't try to overdo it. Head bobbin' female empowerment.

Cute, summery sounding with soft double time drums and acoustic (sounding) guitars. Could have been on, say, Flood, but left off for not being as weird as "Hearing Aid" or "Hot Cha." And it's got the signature bizarre lyrics to offset the more conventional sound.

Easily my favorite song on the album. Has echoes of Nirvana's "On a Plane" in the vocals and chord structure, until of course the horns and organ come in and Linnell talks about making a run to the garbage dump. Is the song's protagonist breaking free of his humdrum life, or going insane? Or both? An urgent, restless power courses through the chorus. I love it.

Flans mixes Revolver Beatles with Kid A Radiohead, and gets a great, quiet, creepy, sad (in a good way) result. Uses the "quiet-loud-quiet" M.O. to good effect.

..6. The Cap'm

A great big loud party song, cousin to "Damn Good Times" on The Spine. Funny egotistical lyrics, with sort of a bratty edge, and bitchin' guitars. Definitely meant to be heard in concert. And a nautical theme! What's not to like?

Arguably the weirdest (or rather, most eclectic) song of all. It sounds like five sounds cut together, and they somehow work. Flans uses about as many voices; it starts off very soft and slow, then segues into big horns and hip-hop beats, followed by 70's bongos, then 60's teeny-bopper pop. Easily could have been part of "Fingertips". I love the lyric "Bustin' my pirate hump/Rockin' my pegleg stump/My mind natural turns to taxidermy!" Madness, and Flan's best song of the album.

Thought this would be another "I Should Be Allowed to Think," which it sort of is, but it's more rockin' and more upbeat, even though its worldview is gloomier. Very decent, but not mind-blowing.

Yes, that's of the MOTH, that the MONTH. Clever song via Linnell. Tongue-tangling, very wordy lyrics about…well…lots and lots and lots of things. Mid-tempo, mid-level energy, with some sections eerily reminiscent of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." You be the judge.

My 2^nd favorite, and not by much. Originally written as a song for a film soundtrack (don't know the film, but that's what I heard)… thought it would be another "Hopeless Bleak Despair" from Mink Car, but not. Different energy for TMBG here. Awesome. An epic, pit-of-sadness love story set against dance beats from now and 20 years ago. Hard to describe. You'll be hard pressed not to root for Ms. Withered Hope (the protagonist) and the object of her affection, Mr. Sadsack. Come on, guys! You can do it!

Not unlike "Bee of the Bird of the Moth," another fun, mid-tempo wordy song by Linnell. Written by Linnell on a bet to use the words "contrecoup," "craniosophic" and "limerent" in a song. And that he did. Not bad, but not great.

No matter how many time I hear this song, I can only think of "Do You Want My Love?" by The Who. A fun rock song, but less memorable than the others.

If the Monkees were based on ancient Middle Eastern kings, and they wrote a theme song for their 60's sitcom, well, by God, this would be the song. Sort of an entry in TMBG's canon of "historical songs," but with the exception of a few salient facts regarding Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal, and Gilgamesh (by the way, those 4 names are the chorus of the song), it details how these 4 dead guys are playing in a band, and drive around in a van! Big smile-inducer, and my 3^rd fave of the album.

Overall, an excellent album waiting for. First the kick-ass season finale of LOST, and now this? What lottery did I win?

BTW, this album AND a full-length bonus disc are available as a 2-pack in record stores July 10. Yay!

Cory

"Wordplay" *** (3 out of 5 stars)

Interviews with NY Times Crossword Puzzle editor Will Shortz (his polite demeanor in the film matches up with his helpful, polite demeanor in his rejection letters to me), covering his career, the crossword puzzle tournament he created and still runs, as well as looks into the minds of fellow crossword constructors such as Merl Reagle and Trip Payne. The likes of Jon Stewart, former Prez Clinton and former Prez wannabe Dole, the Indigo Girls, Ken Burns, and Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina also talk about their crossword joneses (though Stewart is the only one who doesn't come off sounding pretentious; everyone else seems to equate crosswords to some sort of spiritual experience, and though I make the damn things myself, I couldn't help but smirk at some of their posturing.) Not quite as energetic or potent as I would have liked, but worth 90 minutes if you've got the time on a Sunday afternoon after you're doing with the puzzle and comics.

"This Film is Not Yet Rated" **** (4 out of 5 stars)

Pirate this documentary and share it with others; I can guarantee, filmmaker Kirby Dick would like nothing more. The filmmaker (appearing on and off camera in interviews, providing occasional narration) takes on Goliath when he hires a private investigator to uncover the secret identities and inner workings of the creepily ultra-secretive MPAA, the group that rates films G through NC-17. We learn from interviews with frustrated, well-known directors and filmmakers (Trey Parker, Kevin Smith, and Jon Waters, to name a few) and other movie biz types how arbitrary, condescending, conspiratorial, puritanical, corporate and contradictory the members of the MPAA are. Former MPAA members appear throughout, speaking with mixed tones of relief to be free of Jack Valenti's crazy organization, while treading cautiously for fear of incurring their legal wrath. Hilarious animated supplements and telling montages appear througout (such as a side-by-side comparison of R-vs.-NC-17 rated films, with each NC-17 film getting its rating seemingly because of gay sex scenes, even though the R-rated films had identically shot-for-shot hetero footage).

The film really gets interesting when, about ¾ of the way in, Dick submit's the film you've just been watching (remember, he'd been scoping these folks out and investigating them secretly, so the cat's now out of the bag) to the MPAA itself. Naturally he gets the kiss-of-box-office death NC-17, but he's more interested in analyzing the process and making a record of it for all to see. One can assume Dick wasn't interested in making a profit from this film, and there's even a set of interviews defending how Hollywood actually profits from piracy (a compelling, though brief, argument).

The film's brief run time is its only real shortcoming; you want more, but in a good way. The revelation of the MPAA's board members (both the initial review members and its even more powerful appeals board, which we learn features two members of the clergy) is both stomach-turning and gleefully invigorating; it sickens you to know just who is censoring the artistic expression of today's filmmakers, but you realize that now everyone knows who's doing it.

It should be noted that since its release on DVD (and it's unrated, of course), the MPAA has actually changed its rules of review to a fairer, far more public format. It's done to the movie ratings system what "Super Size Me" did to fast food. Thank you, Kirby Dick!