Since I'm heading to the Big City after I leave work today to see Roky Erickson with Okkervil River, I'm going to talk a bit about the show. There are still tickets available, you know ...Anyway, the Roky Erickson story is told well by NPR in this story. Sure, you can find his whole tale in longer form, but NPR does a great job summing it all up succinctly. The record, "True Love Cast Out All Evil," is seriously good. If you don't believe me, check out this review by a seriously smart dude.
I know I'm a little biased about this album and show because they involve Okkervil River, which I've really made no secret about being my favorite band of the moment. Anything Will Sheff does, well, I just think it's great. With that said, I obviously knew who Roky was long before I ever heard Okkervil back in the early part of this century. And I've always known "You're Gonna Miss Me" as one of the most influential rock songs ever written. I've also heard a lot of the crap Roky's put out over the last couple decades. I didn't expect too much out of "True Love." Boy was I wrong.
The 12-song disc is truly great, and getting a chance to see this tour, with Roky backed by Okkervil, might be a one-time-only chance. The mini tour ends tonight, and I can only assume that after the summer, Sheff and Okkervil will concentrate on their next record. So, that means you might want to buy some tickets now ... An absolute legend backed by a truly great band? No brainer.
Here's "Goodbye Sweet Dreams," which will surely be played tonight:
6 comments:
It's been WEEKS, my friend!
Throw us a blog bone, will you?
Anyway -
In a pretty awful year for movies, caught a screening of what is, IMHO, the year's best movie so far - Winter's Bone. I suspect will get it here in CT in the coming weeks. It's greatness.
P.S.
Wasted two hours at "Get Him to the Greek." While there were a few laughs to be sure, I just kept sitting there thinking "Dear Lord, Jonah Hill is the walking poster child for heart attacks." He has grown distressingly large.
A couple of more for this year's Top Ten flix:
Toy Story 3 - hey, I kinda teared up at the end.
The Kids Are All Right - an almost sitcom'y premise done really REALLY well. Great work from Mark Ruffalo, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. Well worth seeing.
Duuuuuuuuuude:
Over a month with no new blogs.
Did we do something to offend?
Wow, just wow.
Yesterday, as I was getting ready to roast some weiners and light some sparklers, I got a call from my "source," summoning me to the Big City. There, in a top secret locale, I got to see me "Inception" a couple of weeks before the rest of the world.
Lemme just say - I've never warmed to DiCaprio, in almost anything (with the exception of maybe Gilbert Grape). And I can't say as I loved or hated him in this, but holy cannoli PF...Christopher Nolan BRINGS it with this movie. AMAZING visuals and action sequences. I can't wait to see it again. I'm pretty sure it goes on my Top Ten list, along with Winter's Bone and The Kids are All Right. See all three. You will not feel cheated. You will feel like an adult who has seen films made by adults, aimed at adults. And yes, that's a very good thing.
So, I'm back. Saw "Winter's Bone" on your and everyone else's recommendation. I can't say I enjoyed it, but it was a great film. I thought it was amazing.
I plan to catch "Inception" sometime this weekend ...
-p
Agreed - "Winter's Bone" was not exactly a pick-me-up, but it was amazing nonetheless. The fact that many of the actors and extras in the film were "real people" is perhaps even more distressing. Some of these people made the banjo kid in "Deliverance" seem like a theme park musician.
Anyway, "Inception" will blow you away, I think - if nothing else for the amazing visuals (there were a couple of times where I wasn't sure where the plot was going, but given most of the film fare out there these days...)
So...make it a "must see" and - though I suspect it's not really your cup of tea - see "The Kids are All Right" for the really good performances. I think the new Clooney spy flick holds promise (I think it's called "The American"). Otherwise, there really isn't much out there on the cellulid horizon to be hopeful about (though I will say the trailer for the "Green Hornet" made me slightly giddy). I'm older than you (so you can't possibly recall it), but as a wee tadpole, the TV show used to make me giddy. I had the Corgi Green Hornet car, and a Green Hornet lunchbox. I did so want to be that guy with the cool Oriental sidekick who didn't have to wear a dorky cape to fight crime (instead opting for a cool topcoat and stylin' fedora). So, despite the fanboy haters, I will be there next January at the multiplex with my overpriced popcorn and vat of soda praying beyond all reason that Rogan nails it and doesn't muck it up too badly. But that's, um, WAAAY more than you wanted to know, I imagine...
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