Erik Moe Art & Design

The informal snarky (sharply critical, cutting, snide) seems to be gaining in popularity. Of course, it’s been in the animated header of this blog for some time, and before that it appeared in my (cringe) Friendster profile. Yesterday’s Times used the word in a critique of the annual music issue from The Believer.

The column “Sometimes Snarkiness Is Preferable to Sincerity,” asserts that the magazine dotes too much on obvious indie-rock darlings at the expense of the wider weird world it generally portrays in its non-music issues. Critic Kelefa Sanneh pointed to The Shins Will Change Your Life, a blog that simply excerpts hyperbole from rock music criticism without any additional commentary, as his pro-snarkiness example.

I’ll admit that I laughed quite a bit at some of the entries in that blog. After all, rock music criticism is often absurd — particularly the 100-word blurbs written by interns whose only compensation is the very CD they chose to review. Still, as much as I like snarky, I’d like to take this opportunity to state my preference for sincerity over snarkiness in case there is any confusion among my readers. Note that when I contributed to the Soundmonger mix group last year, I attempted to explore this very topic.

Come to think of it, I have actually discovered quite a bit of decent music through those 100-word blurbs in the back pages of music mags and weeklies. Also, I’m not ashamed to admit that The Shins actually have changed my life. For the better.

Did that sound snarky? I meant it sincerely.

Since I haven’t been buying much music lately, what with my whole career change thing in full effect, I’ve been jonesing for some new tunes. I seem to have found my fix while exploring this whole podcasting phenomenon over the past few weeks and am actually finding some stuff to get excited about out there. Of course, I’ve long been a big fan of finding new music by listening to streaming broadcasts of traditional radio stations. Podcasts have a very different feel, though. They are finite programs that neccissarily focus on a specific theme, genre, or idea. Also, the RIAA considers podcasts of its artists’ works to be illeagal file sharing, so podcasters need to be careful about what they include in their feeds. This is an amazing boon for independent musicians, though. I’m getting turned on to tons of amazing new music that isn’t being played elsewhere by these simple podcasts made in people’s living rooms. Here are a few that I’ve been listening to of late:

• Indiefeed features several feeds for different genres of music. These are nice bite-size downloads with brief introductory and closing comments bracketing one track by an indie artist. The hip-hop and americana feeds are particularly choice.
• Julien Smith’s In Over Your Head Radio is based in Montreal and tends to play hip-hop and atmospheric electro stuff. The whole show has a nice feel to it and he tends to stick to a reasonable sub 30 minutes length without too much babbling.
• NYC’s Wooster Collective has an interesting feed that includes audio relating to art-happenings. The most recent podcast followed a guerrila street-art installation by Darius Jones.
• A number of traditional broadcasters have begun converting select programs to podcasts. Santa Monica’s KCRW is among these. Of course, their famous music programming is not included due to the aforementioned RIAA rules. Harry Shearer’s (Simpsons, Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman) satirical Le Show is included, though.

Much of what is out there has the feel of free-form college radio, a disappearing format that once could be found originating from nearly every small campus in the country. I’m not about to resurrect my old WRFW broadcasts, but the idea has crossed my mind…

You know how you are a little embarrased that you get a rush from listening to Eye of The Tiger (Survivor’s theme song to Rocky). I’m sure it’s no coincidence that The Go! Team’s new record has a tiger on the cover. It has that same feeling, except without all that retro-Sly Stallone baggage. Not that I have anything against the original Rocky flick — gritty vintage Philly, underdog drama, and that geeky-cute Adrian — I eat that stuff up. The Go! Team captures that dark-tinged high energy sound well. Cinematic is actually a really good word for it. Walking around with this on your iPod see if you don’t find yourself compelled to run up the art museum steps.

I’ve been listening off and on to MPR’s new new-music station, KCMP “The Current” online during it’s inaugural day. So far I’m liking this inauguration better than the (presidential) one in the news last week. My fears of a wimpy station heavy on folk or new-agey music have thankfully not come to pass. I’m actually impressed so far (aside from the odd Ani DiFranco track). They took a bold first step by playing Atmosphere’s “Shh…..” as a first track fresh out of the blocks after Classical WCAL signed off at 9AM. If you don’t know the track, it features the Minneapolis Hip-Hop maestro Slug rhyming about how amazing The Minny is (even Slug doesn’t call it “The Minny,” though). Some of the song’s lyrics sort of make me cringe because they are a bit sappy, but he is so earnest and it’s all true more or less, so I say it was a good pick. Other tracks have been very eclectic, but still mixing together well. Replacements, Frank Sinatra, Iron & Wine, plenty of Minny bands, and plenty of good-sounding stuff that I’ll be happy to get to know better.

The New York Times Magazine yesterday wrote about how powerful Santa Monica’s KCRW has become with the music industry due to the number of people who listen to it’s eclectic programming in their offices on the internet all day. In fact, much like Seattle’s KEXP, they host parties and concerts on this side of the continent for the large contingent of members they have in New York. MPR is surely eyeing that big money with this new new-music station. If you’re reading this Bill Kling, I’ll take a job as your East Coast concert planner…

Free Tech Tip: Mac people should listen to KCMP with the free VLC Media Player, since iTunes doesn’t yet support the great-sounding aacPlus stream. You can use WinAmp on Windows to access that stream. KCMP also has a less good mono Windows Media Player stream that you can use on either platform.

Minnesota Public Radio has announced that it is launching a music station for “listeners who have grown up in the digital generation. Whatever that means. From all appearances, this looks to be a Minnesota-flavored KEXP. The key staffers announced so far are Steve Nelson, who helped start Radio K, and Thorn, a DJ from the departed and much-loved Rev105. Yow.

“Once it debuts, the audience can expect to hear musical artists ranging from local favorites such as Mason Jennings, The Replacements, Olympic Hopefuls and The Jayhawks to modern icons such as The Postal Service, Lucinda Williams, Alejandro Escovedo, Joni Mitchell, U2 and the Arcade Fire. Artists such as Chet Baker, Johnny Cash and Ella Fitzgerald will creep in periodically.”

That language is almost exactly the way Rev105 used to be described (substituting The Jesus & Mary Chain, Morphine, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Soul Coughing, and Soul Asylum, for the newer acts), which makes me optimistic that the station won’t be too folked out or new-agey the way some of the new music public radio stations lean.

Back in the day (the day being 1995 or so), there were adventurous commercial radio stations owned by smallish companies. In Minneapolis there was Rev105 (and KJ104 before it). These commercial stations were run by people who were deeply involved in the local music scene. Most notably, by Kevin Cole a former First Avenue DJ (Cole now is at Seattle’s KEXP). In high school and college I learned to love music throuh Kevin Cole and the other DJs on those stations. Here’s hoping the best for the new MPR service.

Related: What’s Up with 89.3

While taking a glance at the results in the other blue state I care about, a couple of non-electoral stories distracted me… The Strib ran a story on Minneapolis bike messenger fashion, which seems to have been entirely the product of a lazy reporter hanging out too much in a certain Nicolet Mall location of a certain local chain of coffee shops that is dear to my heart. Among the findings: “The Minneapolis messengers look a little less ‘technical’ than in other cities, and a little more thrift store-y.” It’s true - Philly messengers wear a lot more black and a lot less color than the Minneapolis bikers, but then again they are inherently less crazy. Actually, the same can be said for all fashion in Minneapolis vs. Philly… The Strib’s other story distracting me from my post-election haze was the (temporary) closing of First Avenue, the house that Prince built and that gave rise to the Replacements and Hüsker Dü and a zillion other Minneapolis bands. Apparently the name “First Avenue” is tied up as a part of the Bankruptcy holdings. The bad guy owner (who is feuding with good-guy managers) is talking about opening up a different club using that name. Somewhere else. I can just see one of those suburban hair-metal clubs in Anoka being given the First Avenue “brand.”

Everyone I’ve talked to about the mix CD group Soundmonger has been very excited and impressed. There are about 20 of us in the group. Each month, one person is responsible for sending a mix CD to the rest of the group. March 2004 is my month, and the disc is in the mail. Here are the liner notes if you aren’t in our exclusive club and you’d like to attempt to reassemble the mix in iTunes. Soundmonger 15 was created as though it is a two-sided record with an upbeat danceable A side and an introspective B side that ruminates on the concept of sincerity in music. I’ve refrained from fixing my typos because they show how sincere I was when I typed this, late at night, anxious to get these sounds into the ears of my fellow Soundmongers.

THESE ARE THE LINER NOTES FOR SOUNDMONGER 15
BY ERIK MOE

SIDE A: JORGE’S COMEUPPANCE…  As soon as I heard {1} LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge” I knew that it absolutely had to be the opening track of Soundmonger 15.  Because on some level we all have anxieties about not quite being cool enough. Especially when making a mix CD that needs to keep up to the high standards of Soundmongerism.  LCD Soundsystem is part of the überhipster DFA (death from above) scene outta NYC… {2} “Status” by Mr. Lif is another portrait of the artist as a down and out scenester.  I love his little sonic background scenes.  Much of Mr. Lif’s work is more political than this track. He might take advice from {3} Ugly Duckling if he wants to get more airplay. “Dumb it Down” comes from UD’s Meat Shake album, which parodies fast-food culture (and takes a few pot shots at vegetarians). And satire is great, but sometimes you just need to have the truth layed down straight.  The radical socialist hip-hop crew {4} the Coup do it for you on “Everythang.” Now get out there and rally against injustice!  (after you listen to the rest of the disc, of course)… As long as I’m advocating revolution, we might as well engage in a bit of civil disobedience with regard to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Is the next track good because it is illegal or illegal because it is good?  Either way, {5} “Encore” from DJ Danger Mouse’s Grey Album at least deserves to be heard. Danger Mouse took the vocals from Jay-Z’s Black Album and digitally assembled a new sonic landscape for them entirely from the Beatles White Album. Illegal conceptual art that you can dance to: what else could you want?…  Maybe a trip to {6} “Rio de Janiero” with Ugly Duckling? I’ll take it… And then… That’s right, {7}the Stanley Brothers’“How Mountain Girls Can Love” is here on the dance-y upbeat side of this record.  It’s all part of my radical socialist platform: The Universal Brotherhood of Just Keep Dancing.  Soon enough you’ll find yourself moving to the beats of {8} the Juan Maclean,another DFA project that NYC hipster kids (reportedly) were dancing to all year.  If you didn’t rot your brain playing Metroid on Nintendo when you were 13, this song will get you caught up quick.  Whew!… {9} Otis Redding singing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” is the cool-off track. The bartender has turned on the lights. It is 2AM. Time for the kids to scatter to wherever it is they scatter. It’s a nice night out though, and the bike ride home will be refreshing. There is just enough room left here to squeeze in a short outro courtesy of Scott Herren’s {10} Savath & Savalas who remind you what vinyl sounds like. Really you deserve to hear so much more of this abstract acoustic-electronica, but the ‘Monger is a brutal mistress and she says that there ain’t no room for this experimental jingle jangle. We’ve got important ground to cover here… OK, now stand up and stretch while you walk across the room and pretend to flip the record over…

SIDE B: THE ARTIST IN HIS MUSEUM (CHARLES WILLSON PEALE)

Are we back already?  The nice thing about two sided media like tapes and rekkids is that you can break things up a bit.  You might be really engrossed with the latest Atlantic and completely forget about the music. It happens.  You might not listen to side B until tomorrow.  Two sides really give you a chance to work up a second wind for your attention span.  And you really might need a second wind for Side B here, so if you accidentally just let this thing play right through to track 15 before you noticed that you weren’t paying attention, this might be a good time to walk the dog or buy some groceries.  Maybe you are driving a car and reading this at a red light, in which case you should stop and buy some cigarettes.  What’s that? You don’t smoke? Good! Neither do I. But you might want to start by the time you get through the rest of this record.  You never know… Now lets see, where are we. Ah, yes I was going to try to explain what’s going on with {11} Bobby Birdman’s “Perfect For Light.” This guy is part of that the emerging (emerged?) Portland-centric anti-rock scene (I’m not sure I know what that means either, but stay tuned; more of it is coming).  He has a golden voice and styles himself after 1960’s-era crooners.  Still, he is a conundrum – he is practically whispering in your ear – and then there are those electronica tidbits. What is going on? Really, I’m not sure any of us are ready for too much of this. Let’s move on…  Next up are {12} the Thrills and “Big Sur.”  You are thinking Beach Boys.  I’m here to tell you that they are Irish.  Furthermore I’m going to concede to you that I can’t stop listening to them.  Baby, baby please don’t go. But baby always goes, and {13} Willie Nelson knows it.  He also knew a thing or two about putting together a two-sided record.  “Bloody Mary Morning” comes from Phases and Stages, an amazing concept album on which he sings about a break-up from the woman’s perspective on Side A and the male perspective on Side B.  How crazy is that?  How amazing is it to hear the cowboy outlaw talking about mixed drinks and the Los Angeles airport? Willie is so sincere! Nothing about this song makes any sense, except that it makes perfect sense… Maybe that’s what Side B is all about: sincerity. Maybe?  Let’s see if that thread gets us through a few tracks, anyway…  {14} Songs:Ohia is Jason Molina. Jason Molina somehow trapped an actual ghost in “I’ve Been Riding With the Ghost.” I don’t mean the figurative ghost of, say, Out of Time-era R.E.M., I mean that there is an actual haunted soul trapped among the digitally encoded sounds that make up this track.  Can’t you hear it? You can also tell that Molina is sincere about this business of “looking door to door to see if there was someone who’d hold [him].” After buying the Magnolia Electric Co. record at an all-ages Songs:Ohia show in a Philly church basement, I could not stop listening to it for… well, I still haven’t stopped listening to it… It is completely haunted I tell you!… And then there is {15} Devendra Banhart, who you should not look directly at if you see him in person.  His sincerity and weird bearded blue-eyed neo-hippie persona might turn you to stone. Or mush. Or something. I don’t want to think about it. The song is called “Michigan State” it was recorded on a low-low-fi tape in a hostel somewhere with lentils cooking in the next room. People I love have attempted to make the case that this is among the sexiest songs ever.  I’m not going that far, but I will admit to you that I have a weakness for Geography and non-sequiter… Moving on… If anyone is sincere, it is {16} The Thermals on “No Culture Icons.” Not only do they seem to be very sincere, but they are also Portland anti-rock even while they rock out. How cool is that?… Originally, this whole Side B concept you are listening to was going to revolve around {17}the Decemberists, who I have also been obsessed with of late.  Like Willie Nelson, the Decemberists are good storytellers. They aren’t quite as sincere as some of the other folks on this side.  The character that singer Colin Meloy takes on in this story of “The Soldiering Life”does have the kind of sincerity I’m talking about in his love for his brethren in the trenches.  Is Meloy making fun of sincerity here? Or is he pining for a more sincere time and place? Is he saying that true sincerity only comes in these kinds of extreme situations?  Type your answers in 5-7 double-spaced pages and be prepared to discuss them on Wednesday… Those Decemberists? They are also part of that whole Portland anti-rock thing. Go figure… Remember when I started out this side and I said I that maybe {18} Bobby Birdman wasn’t something you and I should be listening to? Let’s give him another try. I have to go back to him. I’m sorry.  Maybe it’s the sincerity… And did I mention that I can’t stop listening to {19} Jason Molina? The song “Spectral Alphabet”comes from the solo-project Pyramid Electric Co. (recorded at the same time as Magnolia Electric Co., above).  Only the most sincere singer-songwriters can get away with the kind of lyrics Molina uses here.  Again, note the actual specters hovering above your speakers (you might need to turn out the lights to see them)… The Death Cab for Cutie side project The Postal Service has somehow escaped Soundmongerism thus far. I suspect that we’ve all been secretly listening to the Give Up album nonstop without telling each other.  Maybe? If so, you might actually start to cry when you hear how sincere {20} “Such Great Heights” sounds in the hands of Iron and Wine,which is the pseudonym of a Miami film-school teacher named Sam Beam. He just plain gets it… And here, once again, I have for you a conundrum:  Are {21} the Polyphonic Spree sincere or over-the-top ironically insincere?  I heard an interview with Tim DeLaughter (ex-Tripping Daisy), the founder of this 26-member white-robed indie-pop choir on NPR and was convinced that he was sincere (search the Fresh Air archives, it is worth it)…  Maybe this is more of a visual thing…  I’m a very visual person… And finally, I can personally vouch for the sincerity of Amy Carrigan of Philly-to-Brooklyn transplants {22} Ducarriganigan. She sings it straight and means every note on “Picassos of You” And… really… finally… Serving as a theosophical outro are 53 seconds from {23} Low, the only anti-rock band you really need. “Dark” pretty much sums it all up… And know that I am perfectly sincere when I say that I am truly sorry if your origami record sleeve wasn’t perfectly creased and symmetrical.  Also, it might not fit in your Ikea record shelf. It doesn’t fit in mine. Some things are just like that.

Right on,

-Erik

The Transcontinental Art Theorists’ Film Club has debuted with a look at the seminal 1984 Prince masterpiece Purple Rain (Dir. Albert Magnoli). On my 10-point scale, I give it a 7. Do read and join the discussion. (clipped and pasted below, 10/19/04)

Thursday, March 11, 2004

Anticipatory Set:
Thoughts on Purple Rain

1. The protagonist of Prince is a rather unlikable character: he refuses to give the women in his band any credit, he tricks Appolonia into jumping naked into a cold lake (Lake of the Isles?), and later in the movie, he actually hits her. This behavior seems to be “excused” due to the fact that his home life is “tumultuous.” My question is: why doesn’t Prince leave? Yes, his father beats his mother, but he seems to not have allegiance to either of them and seems disgusted that they both stay in that situation. Ummm… Prince? Rent in Minneapolis is cheap (probably even more so in 1984); nobody is forcing you to live in your parents’ basement. You have the power to control your own destiny.

2. What’s up with all the clowns in his bedroom? And why does the camera keep panning to them?

3. Woah. This entire movie is a big shout-out to Mpls. First Ave is in almost every scene, Prince mentions Lake Minnetonka, etc. I got excited enough seeing Har Mar Superstar in Starsky and Hutch; I don’t know if I could have handled the theatrical release of Purple Rain. Was First Ave ever really this cool? At the time this movie was made, you (Erik Moe) were 9 as opposed to me being 4; perhaps you have a better grasp on this.

4. I’ve always thought that music videos derived from movies were really cheesy. Instead of attempting an autonomous plot, they just edit together scenes from the movie in a sort of montage format. As bad as this phenomenon is, I have to say that
I’ve never seen it done in MID MOVIE before. The “When Doves Cry” scene is more or less a recap montage (and is the exact same music video that was used for MTV) of what has happened so far in the movie. Yes, we may be watching a film about Prince, but that doesn’t mean that we’re stupid. Some of us have Art History degrees.

5. How does singing the song “Purple Rain” at the end of the movie make Appolonia forgive him for being such an ass? Their last interaction had been when he hit her under that bridge and she ran away, after throwing her hoop earring at him for dramatic flair (please see question 6). Why the sudden change of heart? Is she really that weak of a female character?

6. What would be the modern-day equivalent of throwing one’s hoop earring? Ten years ago, it may have been tossing a Doc Marten or a flannel shirt… What would I toss now if I wanted to create a dramatic moment?

Friday, March 12, 2004

Welcome to the official start of Erik Moe’s and my dialogue on Purple Rain. His insight is in italics.

If it weren’t for the random soft-core porn scenes I might have thought Purple Rain was an Explore Minnesota ad. Cue multi-ethnic motorcycle couple. Cut to rural road with leaves turning. Lake scene here. Now Nicolet Mall… And how great was it to see Block E in all of its gritty pre-Disneyfication glory?

Yes, I thought is was awesome to see Block E all virgin and pure. Its strange that that development has only been there for two or three years, yet I don’t remember what it looked like before that. What was even there? Why has Hard Rock Café (which, by the way, has a Prince museum inside) erased all my former memories of Minneapolis?

I think that you’re onto something: “Explore Minnesota” ads should contain soft porn. The MOA has been around for over ten years and I doubt that its much of a draw anymore. Minnesota definitely shines best in its autumnal glory (as opposed to the frozen tundra that we are in for six months); if we interspersed leafy shots of Lake Calhoun with hot people making out without shirts, perhaps we could generate some more tourist revenue. Let’s draft up a proposal and send it to the board of tourism.

1. The protagonist of Prince is a rather unlikable character: he refuses to give the women in his band any credit, he tricks
Appolonia into jumping naked into a cold lake (Lake of the Isles?), and later in the movie, he actually hits her. This behavior seems to be “excused” due to the fact that his home life is “tumultuous.” My question is: why doesn’t Prince leave? Yes, his father
beats his mother, but he seems to not have allegiance to either of them and seems disgusted that they both stay in that
situation. Ummm… Prince? Rent in Minneapolis is cheap (probably even more so in 1984); nobody is forcing you to live in your parents’ basement. You have the power to control your own destiny.

I guess we are supposed to believe that “The Kid” (this is fiction, not a biopic) is struggling to make a name for himself, he is not yet a prince here. Still, it seemed like he had a standing gig as opening act for the Time seven nights/week - so he should have been able to afford a nice place in pre-Calhoun Square Uptown. Of course, any money he did earn from that gig could not have payed for his multi-million-dollar wardrobe (these were the days before anyone with a pulse could open up fifty credit card accounts). Clearly his days of shopping for raspberry berets, the kind you find in a second-hand store, are long gone… That store in the IDS Crystal Court must have been sustained entirely by The Kid’s purchases. How else do you explain a store in
that location that displays high fashion, jewelry, and guitars in its window?

“The Kid” is definitely a jerk. We slowly learn that this might be a case of cyclical domestic violence - like father, like son. It takes the father’s suicide attempt to wake him out of his self-obsession. His outpouring of emotion in the climactic performance of “Purple Rain” was not really a convincing turn-around, though.

Perhaps the invention of credit-debt-for-all would enable a modern-day “Kid” to escape his troubled home and have a velvety bachelor-pad to perform his various sexual conquests. I agree with your assessment.

2. What’s up with all the clowns in his bedroom? And why does the camera keep panning to them?

The presence of the clowns in his bedroom seems to reinforce The Kid’s role as a misunderstood artist. The world around him is laughing at him. Of course, this might go back to his wardrobe issues. This kind of interpretation of setting better in Psycho, for example, where it makes sense that Anthony Perkins surrounds himself with images of birds. Is there a good reason for The Kid to surround himself with clowns? Does it reinforce his ego-tripping superiority complex? Clearly his foils in “The Time” are clown-like, as are the promoters at First Ave - so maybe it makes sense for him to see the world this way. In fact, really all of the characters are clownlike. Maybe the clowns are actually family portraits and pictures of friends.

Do you think that the clowns could symbolize the fact that “The Kid” is trying to be happy and egotistical on the outside, but on the inside, he is torn up, something that is poignantly reflected in paintings of crying clowns? His character in this movie can really be summed up by a velvet painting; how appropriate, given his apparel.

3. Woah. This entire movie is a big shout-out to Mpls. First Ave is in almost every scene, Prince mentions Lake Minnetonka, etc. I got excited enough seeing Har Mar Superstar in “Starsky and Hutch;” I don’t know if I could have handled the theatrical release of “Purple Rain.” Was First Ave ever really this cool? At the time this movie was made, you were 9 as opposed to me being 4; perhaps you have a better grasp on this.

Har Mar Superstar is in Starsky and Hutch? Whoa - I’ll have to see that. My first trip to First Ave wasn’t until 1993, so I can’t vouch for the scene before then. Some of the Husker Du and Replacements videos from the early ’80s have First Avenue concert footage. I don’t remember there being so many well-dressed New Wave and Funk people in those shots, but then again those bands would have a slightly different following, wouldn’t they?

I suppose they would… First Ave is amazing, but I still find it hard to buy Appolonia’s line about people moving to Mpls. from all over to experience the club. I like the concept of house bands playing every night and only playing one song at a time. I think I would have a lot more fun at shows if I only had to listen to one song at a time.

4. I’ve always thought that music videos derived from movies were really cheesy. Instead of attempting an autonomous plot, they just edit together scenes from the movie in a sort of montage format. As bad as this phenomenon is, I have to say that I’ve never seen it done in MID MOVIE before. The “When Doves Cry” scene is more or less a recap montage (and is the exact same music video that was used for MTV) of what has happened so far in the movie. Yes, we may be watching a film about Prince, but
that doesn’t mean that we’re stupid. Some of us have Art History degrees.

I actually appreciated the flash-backs, because I was… umm… “distracted” by my viewing companion during parts of the movie. Mostly it was the long musical numbers that induced these “distractions,” so when there was a sudden plot point right after a song I didn’t always catch it.

I’m sure you’re not the first person to make-out during “Purple Rain;” I guess that’s why Prince offers such frequent re-caps. I will say that when you are actually by yourself and watching the movie, plot recaps are lame. Perhaps I will commission Ethan to help me out on this one.

5. How does singing the song “Purple Rain” at the end of the movie make Appolonia forgive him for being such an ass? Their last interaction had been when he hit her under that bridge and she ran away, after throwing her hoop earring at him for dramatic flair (please see question 6). Why the sudden change of heart? Is she really that weak of a female character?

OK, but remember it was The Kid’s hoop earring — he had given it to her earlier. So it was a pretty big dis to throw it in the dirt.

Okay, so I wasn’t making-out during the movie, but I was sleepy from prior “distractions,” thus I completely missed “The Kid” giving her his earring. This all makes more sense now.

6. What would be the modern-day equivalent of throwing one’s hoop earring? Ten years ago, it may have been tossing a Doc Marten or a flannel shirt… What would I toss now if I wanted to create a dramatic moment?

Clearly it would be more difficult to throw your thong underwear or your toungue piercing at someone. And deleting someone as a friendster isn’t very cinematic. Maybe there is no modern equivelent.

OK, but what about the scene where the sketchy promoters toss the scantily-clad dancer into a back alley dumpster. I don’t think even the Farrelly Bros. could get away with that in 2004…

Yeah! And what about when his rival says “How’s the family?” after his father’s attempted suicide? I know the guy’s an ass, but come on. That seems a bit harsh., even for the gritty world of rock music.

Do you think throwing my black-rimmed glasses could have dramatic flair? I’ve attempted to make un-Friendstering dramatic, but that becomes hard when there is no notification to the un-Friendstered party that such event has taken place. If I had input into that site, I would definitely make sure that people knew when they were no longer virtual friends with people. But then again, I’m all about petty drama.

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Regarding the Transcontinental Art Theorist’s Film Club, Erik Moe has added this to finalize our discussion on Purple Rain

For now I will add this much to the discussion. I wouldn’t underestimate First Ave’s draw. While I think it unlikely that it is even on the radar screens of hot New Orleans performers/dancers/singers, I do think it was/is probably the most important club in the central time zone - primarily because it was/is so singular and central to the cities’ scene. Most cities have much more fragmented scenes with a variety of less-impressive venues serving different sub-cultures. The fact that First Ave. for so long was THE venue is what made it so well known all over. I think the Mpls. scene has diversified and fragmented a lot over the past 10-15 years - which is almost certainly a good thing - even if a certain amount of unity has been lost.

Hey, readers: any thoughts on what the next film discussion should be? Direct all correspondance to: jainamlewis@hotmail.com

If anybody has any extra thoughts on Purple Rain, direct them here as well. Now some thoughts on Friendster: We here at “jaina!” (formerly “Jammin’ with Jaina”) are not strangers to the idea of the dramatic un-Friendstering. One of the first blog posts that took place on this site involved announcing recent un-Friendsterings and declaring those parties to be “douchebags.” This posting has become a favorite of readers, as well as a dramatic fighting-point in my personal life. Nobody wants to hear “Jaina has called you a douchebag on the internet for all to see!” After all, this could ruin any chance of ever obtaining public office or scoring with any fly honeys. Maybe the internet is too large of a forum to announce such matters, but I do think that they need to be declared. That’s why I am officially proposing the “Un-Friendster Notification.” Upon losing a Friendster, the user would receive the following e-mail:

********************
UN-FRIENDSTER NOTICE

Dear John Doe,
You have lost Friendster Jane Doe due to the following reasons:

_ Friendster has quit service.
_ Friendster has violated user agreements.
_ Other

Explanation: JOHN, YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE. WHAT’S UP WITH TELLING EVERYBODY THAT YOU STOOD ME UP WHEN WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A DATE? YOU ARE NO LONGER MY FRIENDSTER.

Thank you,
Friendster Services
*********************

Yes, the drama is petty and stupid, but so is Friendster. This notice would make events known without having to ruin the public reputation of the un-Friendstered party.

MUSIC: Magnolia Electric Co. (a/k/a Songs:Ohia) I’ve long been curious about Jason Molina’s project. He’s often mentioned in conjunction with Will Oldham and Co., (the two have collaborated on records that I haven’t heard yet). I went to see him play with his larger ensemble, the Magnolia Electric Co., last night at First Unitarian. I was completely transfixed by the sound. Gorgeous alt-country twang and introspective heartfelt lyrics were punctuated by the occasional hard-rock moment.

Forgive me if I haven’t pointed you in the direction of the high-bandwidth flash/shockwave web-zine CBC Radio 3 until now. Every week or so they publish a new edition with an all-new soundtrack of lesser-known Canadian bands playing over some impressive documentary photography, art, interviews, etc. The latest edition (2.6) features selected books from the Philly-based airstream trailer Projet Mobilivre - Bookmobile Project that nicely simulates the experience of browsing inside the real trailer’s traveling collection of book art.