Published Work

Film Review: 44 Inch Chest (Malcolm Venville)

~ Jonah Flicker ~ Leave a comment

I reviewed the new film, 44 Inch Chest, for Weekinrewind.com, a film review and news site. Read it here or below. The movie, due out in LA on 1/15 and NY on 1/29, is the latest from the writers of Sexy Beast, and it’s really worth checking out.

“44 Inch Chest,” the new film from first-time director Malcolm Venville and the writers of “Sexy Beast,” is a gathering of foul-mouthed, cantankerous, crusty old British men. Cast members Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson are venerable actors of English and American stage and film, and they sink their collective teeth into the film’s witty script with aplomb and vigor.

This is a British gangster film of sorts, although nothing really “gangster” ever goes down–and, thankfully, nothing even remotely as stylized in a Guy Ritchie manner occurs. The film opens with Colin Diamond (Winstone) lying in a destroyed room set to the mournful Nilsson cover ballad, “Without You.” We don’t know what’s happened–is he alive, is he dead, is he dead drunk? His eyes flutter, and from there his character takes something of a Tony Soprano turn.

Diamond is a tough guy, true, but his wife just left him, thus leaving him anxious, desperate and psychologically destroyed. One quick montage later, he and his mates, the gay Meredith (McShane), the doddering Peanut (Hurt), the dapper Mal (Stephen Dillane), and the sensible Archie (Wilkinson) meet up in a dilapidated house on the outskirts of London with Colin’s wife’s lover tied up in a cupboard.

“44 Inch Chest” plays out more as a stage play than it does a film, with much of the action taking place in one room, and each character delivering several pages of monologue at one time or another. But Venville doesn’t shy away from cinematic tricks, either–he uses flashbacks to piece together the sequence of events after Colin’s found out that he is a cuckold. There is great tension in the script and the threat of violence lingers in almost every scene, but it rarely plays out. Colin’s confrontation with his wife, the beautiful Liz (Joanne Whalley), is horrific as he details it to his pals, but Venville only shows the violence briefly, and he waits to do so.

The dialogue is sharp and precise, allowing each actor to flesh out his character over the course of the film’s 90-minute running time. There is a hilarious sequence in which Peanut uses the plot of the DeMille film “Samson and Delilah” to illustrate his take on women, and Venville incorporates actual footage of the film to showcase this. But mostly, it’s the interplay between these characters–moments of hostility, sensitivity and introspection peppered throughout –that does the trick.

Winstone’s Colin is an anti-hero, someone who has committed a horrible, misogynist act, but with whom you nevertheless can’t help but empathize. Ultimately, this is a story about his redemption, about how far he will let loose his id in order to exact revenge for a perceived injustice. When he finally faces the young waiter they have kidnapped, the question remains whether he will succumb to his fury or seize this moment and turn it into something cathartic.

For all its dialogue and relative lack of action, “44 Inch Chest” is lively and vibrant, no doubt due to the pitch-perfect performances of its principle cast. The film relies on substance over style and flash, but manages to impress all the same. Hopefully, this will serve as a guidebook to Ritchie and his legion of Tarantino wannabes.

Review: Caspa – Everybody’s Talking, Nobody’s Listening (Fabric)

~ Jonah Flicker ~ Leave a comment

Dupstep producer extraordinaire Caspa gets a little more polished than usual on his debut album. Read my review here or below.

Dubstep DJ/producer Caspa’s debut album, Everybody’s Talking, Nobody’s Listening!, takes the shadows and grime of the London-born electronic music genre and adds a bit of shimmer to it. Caspa has been an important component of the UK’s thriving scene for years now, contributing mixtapes and remixes of artists like Depeche Mode and Kid Sister. But his new album breathes a shinier, more commercial sensibility into this typically brooding music.

This mostly comes in the form of guest vocalists, who are employed with varying levels of success. On “Lon-Don,” Uncle Sam croons melodrama over a smoothed-out mid-tempo beat of synthesizer chord washes and bass drops. “The Takeover” fares much better, with Dynamite MC spitting rugged over a minimal, hard, acid bass-stabbed track that gets all DJ Screw at the end. But the best moments come sans MC, minus singer, without rapper. “Low Blow” is sinister, menacing dubstep, a syncopated beat augmented by ominous waves of high-pitched audio torture, and a disjointed sample of a child emoting, “Come on, Caspa!” “Marmite” is similarly twisted, its arpeggiated chords bleeding into a stuttering mess of drums and diving bass.

Overall, you may be better off experiencing Caspa mixing his magic in a live setting, but this collection of original productions has some very effective moments.

Review: GusGus – 24/7

~ Jonah Flicker ~ Leave a comment

GusGus’s new album, 24/7, is their first for German electronic label Kompakt. Read all about it right here or below.

Icelandic collective GusGus has gone through various lineup changes over the course of its 15-year career. Originally conceived of as an outlet for artists, actors, and musicians, the group became much better known for its slick techno and house music. Several members have gone on to notable careers producing advertisements (Arni & Kinski) and providing songs for The Lord of the Rings (Emiliana Torrini). The current inception is a trimmed down trio. Gusgus’ new album, 24/7, is its first for German label Kompakt, giving a warm boost of creativity to an already flourishing label better known for more clinical electronic music.

The album opens with “Thin Ice,” a track that begins with undulating synthesizers and airy vocals, before switching halfway through to a nicely throbbing house beat. As you may imagine from the title, “Hateful” is a more sinister affair, but pleasurably so. A crisp, mid-tempo kick drum provides the bedrock for echoing bass thwacks and Daniel Agust Haraldsson’s R&B-inspired vocals, rather incongruously spitting some venom: “I’m feeling hateful because you pissed me off / And I want to hurt you / I want to make you suffer.” “On The Job” is a much more lighthearted affair, its electro-disco subwoofer-rattling beat soldiering on for over ten minutes, before it, too, undergoes a bit of a metamorphosis about halfway through.

Clearly, GusGus isn’t an electronic band content with making straightforward dance music. Sure, they can craft hypnotic, repetitive beats, but you will usually find some sort of twist along the way. And that’s what keeps their music interesting.

Film: All Tomorrow’s Parties DVD

~ Jonah Flicker ~ 1 Comment

I reviewed this one a loooooong time ago, but the release date got pushed back, etc., etc…. Anyway, read my take on the All Tomorrow’s Parties DVD here or below. It’s a great concert film.

Music festivals can be a huge pain in the ass. The crowds, the heat, the expensive food and beverages, trying to get from one stage to another so as not to miss a band… sometimes, it’s just not worth it. However, if one is to believe the new DVD detailing the last several installations of All Tomorrow’s Parties, it’s the best fucking festival – nay, best live music experience – period – that has ever existed.

Though the film All Tomorrow’s Parties (Warp Films) was produced by the Warp X studio collective, director Jonathan Caouette (Tarnation) played a large role in its creation, helped along by “semi-found footage,” democratically shot by “All Tomorrow’s People.” The resulting picture is a whimsical, sentimental, magical look at the bands, fans, and landscapes that have made up ATP over the years. The setting is a David Lynchian seaside summer camp in England, a 1950s ideal taken over by a host of purveyors and disciples of indie rock. The film zeroes in on this notion, mixing archival footage with beautifully shot live scenes. There is really no narrative, but there is no need for one. Performances are loose and inspired: Battles, Les Savy Fav, Slint, Dirty Three, Grinderman, Lightning Bolt, and GZA are just a few of the acts that drift across the frame, offering fleeting moments of aural bombast.

It’s not all roses; David Cross is booed off stage, Sonic Youth teases with just a few seconds of music, and there is a jarring snippet of someone describing ATP as “Auschwitz with good music.” Flimsy Holocaust references aside, All Tomorrow’s Parties is a dream of a concert film.

Near the end, Grizzly Bear appears on a beach performing a seemingly impromptu acoustic performance, surrounded by a crowd of spent onlookers. It’s moments like these that encapsulate the ATP experience, or at least the one the filmmakers would have you take away. Best festival ever? Perhaps. Excellent concert film? No question.

Special Features: Full length performance cuts; commentary from ATP promoters Barry Hogan and Deborah Kee Higgins; 40 page full colour booklet, including 10 years of ATP artwork and programme introductions; key that can be used to unlock exclusive bonus content online, including Vincent Moon’s footage from ATP New York, interviews, more full length performances.

Review: Islands – Vapours (Anti)

~ Jonah Flicker ~ Leave a comment

I recently reviewed the mediocre new Islands record, Vapours, for Blurt here.

Nick Diamonds is really, really good at writing hook-laden, catchy indie-pop songs. So maybe the problem he’s currently facing is just that; it comes so naturally to him, he’s not trying quite as hard anymore. In fact, on Islands’ new album, it almost feels like he’s phoning it in.

It’s hard to argue with most of Vapours’ notable characteristics. Diamonds continues to silkily croon out similes and metaphors about life and love over a conventionally structured but engaging bed of rock and synth-pop backgrounds. Where the band’s last album, Arm’s Way, veered towards classic, almost proggy rock arrangements, this one inverts the formula. Many of the songs bounce and bubble along over programmed drumbeats and shimmering synth lines. The title track is a pleasant exception, a short and sweet Van Morrison-style mid-tempo rocker buoyed by the addition of a brass section. But much of the tracklist is closer to the tension-filled “Devout,” a Halloween disco with empty spaces and minor chord progressions, or the balmily bumping “No You Don’t.” Tunes like this work just fine, but don’t offer the breath of electro-excitement that a track like the infectious “Creeper” offered on the last record.

Finally, as agreeable as the whole thing is, Vapours is just never very exciting. The album may be Islands’ weakest effort to date, sharing more with Diamonds’ Human Highway project than anything even remotely Unicorns. Vapours is awkward adult contemporary, emo easy listening, uninspired indie rock… But still, the songs sound good, the instruments are played well, the tunes stick in your head. This Diamonds dichotomy may not make your year-end list, but you won’t ask for these 40 minutes back either.

Review: Del and Tame One – Parallel Uni-Verses (Gold Dust)

~ Jonah Flicker ~ Leave a comment

I recently did a piece for SF Weekly on this album, but here’s my review.

Recent collaborations between hip-hop veterans have not always been successful. KRS-One and Buckshot recently teamed up for Survival Skills, an album that only served to showcase how incredibly exciting and prolific these two MC’s used to be. In light of this, it’s nice to hear how good Del The Funky Homosapien and Tame One sound on their recent team-up, Parallel Uni-Verses. Both have been around since the early ‘90s. Del hails from the Bay Area, and in addition to appearing on Gorillaz’ hit single “Clint Eastwood,” is part of Hieroglyphics, one of the most successful independent crews in hip-hop. Tame One came up in New Jersey as part of the Artifacts and has been a member of the Weathermen and Leak Brothers.

Admittedly, Del and Tame’s rhymes wouldn’t sound quite as good if it weren’t for production duo Parallel Thought’s beats. They twist eerie rock breaks (“The Franchise”) and old funk loops (“Flashback”) alike into compelling tapestries of boom-bap, the perfect canvas for any capable MC. And Del and Tame are more than capable. Del’s flow is sort of lackadaisical and psychedelic, reeking of years and years of blunt smoke, acid tabs, and video games. Tame is gruff, more belligerent, but still thoughtfully mixing metaphors and pop culture references into a forceful train of grimy thought.

But the two styles sound right at home together over the course of the album, which holds together thematically and sonically over the course of its 50 minutes – that alone is a great feat in this age of disjointed hip-hop singles and records heavy on filler. “I cut up my lungs, fucking with suns with gravitational pull shit, bullshit till I’m done,” exclaims Tame on “I’m A…” This just about sums it up.

Review: Doom – Unexpected Guests (Gold Dust)

~ Jonah Flicker ~ Leave a comment

Let’s be honest, Doom’s latest, Unexpected Guests, is disappointing. No more collections of previously released music, please. Read my review here or below.

The good old days:

Let’s be honest, Doom (nee MF Doom, King Gheedorah, Viktor Vaughn, etc.) hasn’t really released a good album since 2004’s Mmm… Food. And yet, somehow, his obsessive fans (this writer included) keep hoping for a great new record, one that doesn’t recycle past songs, one that reaches the level of Madvillainy or Take Me to Your Leader or even Operation: Doomsday. Instead, we get Unexpected Guests.

You see, if you are a devoted fan of Daniel Dumile, you have already heard every one of these tracks on a different (and better) album. De La Soul collaboration, “Rock Co. Kane Flow,” from The Grind Date? Check. Kurious collaboration, “?”, from Doomsday? Sure. Vast Aire collabo, “Da Supafriendz,” from Look Mom, No Hands? Why not? And the list goes on and on. This is great for the uninitiated, although these songs are definitely not his best (even though the album was “executed and overseen by the Super Villain himself,” but kind of boring for his super-fans.

Sadly, this will have to do until Doom gets his shit together, and the new Madvillain album and his forthcoming solo record (on which he’s working with TV on the Radio’s David Sitek) see the light of day. But beware, Doom. As beloved as you are, you are wearing your fans’ patience thin and stretching your mantle of prolificacy. Next time, please give us some quality new shit.