So, Juno is out on the DVD. So you can buy it from the store. I saw it at Walmart, they have one version with just the movie, and another version with a ‘music CD’ included. For a difference of 5 bucks. Although if you do decide to purchase said film, I’d recommend that you do it through some other retailer, namely, ME, or Amazon. Which is the same thing.

Check it, yo.

Juno on De Ve De | Soundtrack, duh

GUESS WHAT, BITCHES? I HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN THE MOVIE!

But if you ever seen Hard Candy, maybe you’ll know why I’m not sure if I want to see Ellen Page in another movie. She’s a scary ballbuster. I don’t know how she gets laid, maybe the red carpet does it for her. Props, Ellen.

Whoop whoop.

 I'm Sticking With You - The Velvet Underground [2:29m]: Play in Popup | Download (584)

I grew up in England, being as I’m British and all, and only am in America because we had to move here. At Christmas time, we had our many rituals and traditions, some of which we’ve lost by coming over here. Among them were Christmas pudding, Christmas crackers (with hats and toys inside, at dinner time), and watching ‘The Snowman’.

Based on a book by Raymond Briggs written in 1978, the film was released in 1982 on the U.K.’s Channel 4. It was an instant hit, and ever since has been shown every Christmas. It has become an important part of British and International Christmas culture.

Blah blah. I effing love this movie, I remember begging my mum to watch it all throughout the year. Its a silent film, scored by Howard Blake and features the song he also wrote called ‘Walking In the Air’, sung by Aled Jones for the film. Recently, ‘Walking In the Air’ was performed by Chloe Agnew, one of the singers of Celtic Woman.

This post has the mp3 of the song, and the youtube full version of the film.

The Snowman Website

For anyone who wants to buy this as a gift, or just enjoy it on Christmas, its available on DVD on Amazon for only $8.99. Can’t beat that. And Two-Day Shipping is  7 bucks. Totally worth it.

 Walking In the Air - Aled Jones [3:25m]: Play in Popup | Download

A couple of years ago while I was visiting my best friend, she gave me a CD she purchased, telling me she thought I'd like it. She enjoyed it, too, but thought the boyfriend and I would like it a bit more, and she was spreading the music love, something I totally agree with. 

She was spot on. Turns out she bought the CD because it was related to Jack Johnson, and back in the day she collected almost everything he produced. This happened to be a soundtrack that was done for one of his many surf movies (Thicker Than Water, The September Sessions). I quickly fell in love with it, and have listened to it on and off since. Since this month is one of those 'on' times, I thought I'd share the prettiness with you.

Sprout Soundtrack @ JackJohnsonMusic.com

Buy Sprout Soundtrack // Film 

Banderilla - Calexico MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/10%20Banderilla.mp3]

Spanish Flowers - Sprout House Band MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/12%20Spanish%20Flowers.mp3]

Practice Twice - Sam Prekop MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/01%20Practice%20Twice.mp3]

Ben Folds and Waso Live in Perth

Ben Folds  // Waso 

This isn't the first, nor most infamous occasion in which an attempt to merge rock and roll with an orchestra has taken place.  Heck, that was the whole point of ELO, but stick with me here.  What Ben Folds has done here is interesting in that the release before this was a live album with just Ben and a piano, and we got a chance to hear songs in a stripped down way.  Now we get to hear some of those same songs with the ninety-man Western Australia Symphony Orchestra backing them up.  Again, neither of these things is earth shattering.  But what makes these projects work, most specifically the orchestral job in question, is a combination of the quality of the music and Ben's attitude towards it.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, cliche.
This is, the performance is incredibly genuine.  Ben has a great respect for WASO and expresses it between most songs.  He makes sure that the local composers who did the arrangements get credit for it.  The audience are included (as always), even participate in "Not the Same" the same as they do on Ben Folds Live, forming an impromptu choir.
The arrangements are usually excellent, but some are going to be a matter of taste.  The use of a tenor on "Narcolepsy" for example.  It really threw me off the first time, but since then I've come to accept, and even embrace, it.  It adds to the feeling of pandemonium in the climax of the song.  "Evaporated" sounds incredibly natural, as it has a string arrangement on the album, the horns and everything makes it even fuller [more full?], "Boxing", "the Luckiest" and "Lullabye" are the same way, the latter getting a dose of saxophone solo.  "Zak and Sara" and "Annie Waits" get a healthy boost in bombast.  The chatter between songs is great, but maybe the most exciting bit is when somebody calls out for the improv/joke number "Rock this Bitch".  Ben proceeds to lead the whole orchestra in it, and calls for solos.  Brilliant stuff.
Good arrangements, great performance, amazing atmosphere.

Final verdict: happy times with a giant band.  Great for fans of either Ben Folds or concert DVDs [or both!]

Related Links:

Ben Folds Official Website

Waso Official Website

Buy This DVD

Buy Ben Folds Live 

Related Audio:

Not the Same

[audio:http://www.lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Ben%20Folds%20-%20Ben%20Folds%20%20_%20not%20the%20same.mp3]

Rock This Bitch

[audio:http://www.lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Ben%20Folds%20-%20Ben%20Folds%20%20_%20rock%20this%20bitch.mp3]

Zak and Sara

[audio:http://www.lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Ben%20Folds%20with%20WASO%20-%2001%20Zak%20and%20Sara.mp3]

Matisyahu - No Place To Be 

Miguel de Cervantes is quoted as saying, "The pen is the tongue of the mind." I think that's a ridiculous notion, as the tongue is, quite literally the tongue of the mind. I'd love to be really pretentious and tie that into the Matisyahu review, but it's really just on the wall of the writing lab here, and it really bugs me. Anyhow, Matisyahu's "Youth" album, his studio debut, was one of the highlights of 2006, following on the underground success of 2005's "Live at Stubb's" and appearances at Bonaroo and other festivals, so it lifted my spirits considerable to see there was a new release available. I was disappointed that the CD portion of this CD/DVD combo is only EP length. New versions of "Jerusalem (Out of Darkness Comes Light)," "Warrior," and "Chop 'em Down", and a cover of the Police's "Message in a Bottle" play opposite remixes of "Jerusalem" and "Youth," and a dub version of "Message." The studio tracks are great, except "Message," which might've been a treat live, sounds kind of stale. The real weakness comes from the remixes, which are sadly unoriginal. "No Place to Be" verdict: Not very good. The "Live in Israel" DVD is a different story altogether, though. It's a combination documentary/concert film capturing an entire concert performed in Tel Aviv, Israel, and also follows Matisyahu and his band around the town to fill in the exposition. It's a very balanced piece, and Matis' performance is on point. This is for sure the highlight of the package, and well worth the price of admission. "Live in Israel" verdict: Superfantastic.

Final verdict: If you think of it as a DVD with a bonus EP, then it makes much more sense. For sure worth it for the DVD

MP3's

Jerusalem

[audio:http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=1&pmmsid=1778416&referer=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.singingfish.com]

Chop 'Em Down

[audio:http://www.yekayeka.com/shnazzle/03%2520Chop%2520%2527em%2520Down.mp3]

Rastaman Chant

[audio:http://ia310115.us.archive.org/3/items/matisyahu2004-12-25/matisyahu2004-12-25sbdt01_vbr.mp3]

Related Links:

Matisyahu Official Website

Buy This Album! 

 Meeting People Is Easy // A Film by Grant Gee about Radiohead

Second part of my Radiohead final fix [until the new disc drops sometime in this young year] is a film that followed Radiohead around while they were touring in promotion of OK Computer. It is, by no means, a typical "follow a big rock group around and partake in their hijinks" film. But then, Radiohead aren't a typical hijinksy rock band. What you get here is Thom Yorke looking really bored during some dull interviews and really, really, really bored during "Creep." You get to see Colin speak French. You get to hear a lot of b-sides ["Big Ideas (Don't Get Any)" and two remixes of "Climbing up the Walls"] and then-unreleased songs ["How to Disappear Completely (and Not be Seen)" and "Life in a Glass House" ended up on Kid A and Amnesiac respectively]. You get several really good live bits. And you get a glimpse of the dull side of writing an album so worthy of my praise. At first the film may seem slow and incoherent and dreary, but I think that's the point. I feel it gives a great impression of what it must be like for those poor boys from Oxford. The inane interview questions, the blur of one city after another, the hype over "Creep." I must say that this is one of the few band documentary/concert DVDs that doesn't inspire me to pick up my guitar and follow my dreams of rockstardom. If you want that, check out Pearl Jam's Touring Band 2000 or Weezer's Video Capture Device . You might want to check those out anyway. But no, what this film made me aspire to is music journalism. Just so I can ask reasonable questions and not be another moron comparing the band to Pink Floyd and asking how they fit into the BritPop scene.

Final Verdict: It's not necessary to be a die-hard Radioheader to dig this, you just have to be interested in this sort of look at a band.

Related Links 

 Radiohead Official Website

Buy This!