Juno +Indie Film Phenomena

I'm not going to sit here happily typing away and pretend that I am knowledgeable on the subject of film. I've always been more of a music person. Movies just last way too long for me. Maybe I'm just weird, or maybe I just have a messed up attention span. High school culture basically requires that you be a fan of movies, so I've always stuck out a little bit on that matter. I don't particularly enjoy going out with my friends and watching a movie. Kinda strange right? Well, I kinda feel like it's a waste of time, that we could spend some good quality time together just making some casual conversation. However, occasionally there will be a film that has some sort of positive effect on me.

Now, I realize I'm going to sound like some teen-wannabehipster, but quite honestly the new, overly hyped indie-ish film, Juno, had that very effect on me. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I'm sort of supposed to like it, if I just watched it at the right time, or if it was the story itself. Maybe it was just the sheer simplicity and honesty of the whole thing. A cute and somewhat light-hearted story, considering the situation presented, filled with plenty of comedy and a decent soundtrack. It's hard to find so much good in a movie these days. A movie that's enjoyable and so easy to watch.

Hollywood spends millions of dollars trying to create films that are so entertaining, filled with an unimaginable number of effects and stunts. It just becomes so repetitive that something so simple becomes so appealing to a wide audience. Though Juno had plenty of holes within the story, the fact that the creators weren't afraid to leave those holes is what made it so enjoyable. Plus, the witty side comments pretty much made up for where the story fell short.

However, what's truly interesting about these films like Juno, is that they work like a bandwagon. They create controversy of all kinds. In Juno's case it's been the soundtrack to the film. Indie kids everywhere are upset that their beloved Adam Green and Kimya Dawson have been discovered by everyone who's watched the film. It's actually pretty funny. People on message boards fussing about how they've been listening to The Moldy Peaches since 2003, therefore anyone who began listening to them after Juno has no right to listen to them. This is what I call Indie Film Phenomena. Fans becoming extremely angry about a band gaining more fans because of a film their music was featured in. It's happened before in films such as Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite or even the well known television drama,The OC. When people began liking The Shins, Figurine or Death Cab For Cutie after watching these films, old fans tried to defend their undying love for these bands. It's strange how people get so defensive of the music they listen to as it's their own. I must admit, I am a culprit myself. However, I believe that instead of being the selfish listeners that we usually are, we should be kind of happy that our favorite musicians are getting some much deserved attention.

Beirut

Sometimes you just need a nice vacation to Europe. I myself have never traveled to Europe, but I'm positive that Beirut's newest release, The Flying Club Cup would be the perfect album for the trip. In fact, I can easily imagine myself driving through Eastern Europe in tiny car with this album blasting through my headphones. Everything about this album makes me think Europe; from the presence of the accordion and ukulele, to the random clips of foreign languages being spoken in the background.

Zach Condon, the mastermind behind Beirut, hails from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Oh yeah, and he's only 22, with two albums and three EP's to his name. Though sticking to the ukulele most of time, he also plays a number of other instruments that appear on his albums, such as trumpet, and the accordion. How he can successfully create such a uniquely rich sound with so many European influences, along with his incredibly smooth voice is beyond me. Trumpets, violins, accordion, ukulele, clarinets and an array of percussive instruments... 22 years old and already rivaling veteran bands such as Neutral Milk Hotel and The Decemberists. Truly amazing.

I say you give Beirut a try. You just might get to take that trip to Europe that you've always dreamed of. Listen to Beirut here.

Animal Lovers

Noah Lennox and David Portner are the key members of what might be the two most eccentric musical groups of the 21st century; Animal Collective and Panda Bear. Lennox and Portner met through their childhood friends Josh Dibb and Brian Weitz to form Animal Collective in New York City sometime during 2000. Together they've released a catalog of some of the most spastic and experimental albums ever recorded.

At first listen, Lennox and Portner's brand of experimental, freak-folk is so strange that it's almost too difficult to categorize. Rock? Alternative? Indie? I guess it's more appropriate to stick to their self-defined genres of experimental and freak-folk... Lush reverb, funky filters, and the occasional electronic sample make up the background for some of the strangest vocal habits and lyrics to have surfaced in the past decade.

However, what's truly impressive and appealing about this duo is their incredible creative ability. Strawberry Jam, Animal Collective's most recent release, is truly unlike anything I've ever heard. The album's opener, Peacebone, seems that it could be only truly understood if the listener was tripping out on some recreational drug. Panda Bear's newest release, Person Pitch, is just as eccentric. As a friend of mine described, "it's the equivalent of what the Beach Boys would have sounded like if they recorded an album while they were stoned". The album's opener, Comfy in Nautica illustrates this perfectly. Choral- like backing vocals, harmonious lead vocals and so much reverb that you'd think Lennox recorded this track in a cathedral. One of the album's 12 minute pieces explores three major ideas and is sure to give anyone chill bumps at some time or another.

Though Lennox and Portner may be creating some of the weirdest music of today that may scare off the occasional music listener, their creative abilities should be appreciated. It takes an amazing amount of effort and ability to create something as complex and different as they have.


Fireworks:

Macbook Hype

Today Apple introduced its newest member of the Macbook family, the Macbook Air. Of course, everyone's initial thought was "Oh wow, That's amazing, look how thin and pretty it is!" After recovering from the shock of this incredibly thin machine I decided to check out the tech specs. The Macbook Air is basically as thick as a few sheets of paper stuck together (.14 inches, .4 centimeters). However, my laptop which was released in 2006 has a faster processor speed than this new, and supposedly amazing computing machine. I'm sorry Apple, but 1.6 GHZ, or sorry the optional 1.8 GHZ is so two years ago. Sorry, I'm not going to pay $3,000 for a pretty little laptop that has an outdated processor! Furthermore, the hard drive is quite pathetic. 80GB? Come on, I know it must be difficult to fit more in that thin little case but it's a little bit lame to be charging $3000 for such outdated specs. The only plus is the included 2GB memory, but still that doesn't make up for the overall price.

Sadly enough, Hollywood's influence has reached the computer industry. This should be a sad day for the tech savvy around the world. Thin, shiny and beautiful is the new stereotypical idea of a nice laptop, and Apple's selling it as if its the most amazing product created! Their newest products, this new Macbook Air and their recently released Ipod Touch are just like hot, plastic girls. Beautiful on the outside, but horrible on the inside. This laptop is the definition of technological anorexia, a sad disease that Apple has caught! We want speed! We want memory! We want a reliable laptop that we won't snap in half! And we want it for a decent price! That's all we ask! You never used to have a problem supplying the masses with reliable and state-of-the-art products! What happened?

What's even sadder about this whole situation is that they're advertising this new Macbook as if it's the best notebook they offer. Best price, best overall system, everything. The other Macbook models are definitely a better alternative to this, yet because of Apple's amazing advertising skills, they will trick those who are simply looking for a new laptop into buying this.

I'm disappointed with Apple at this point. They had something great going. They created the most popular mp3 player of all time, the notorious ipod. They've released solid notebooks loaded with features for a fairly decent price up until this point. I hope this trend of releasing over hyped products doesn't continue for long.