The Shadow Nose

5.13.11

4:04 pm

 

After letting it age expertly for a few weeks, I finally got around to watching The Shadow last night.

Or maybe half of it.

I don't know anything about the original...comic? Radio play? and I saw the movie years ago (all I remember is Tim Curry being awesome and throwing himself out of a window) and recalled it being all right.

Paul was wrong folks.

You can tell how wrong by his use of the third person.

Not only did the movie look like diaperz, film stock wise, but the whole thing felt like someone who couldn't get the rights to Batman doing a sort of Batman parody out of childish anger.

Badly.

Unless the story of The Shadow is THAT much like Batman.

In which case...shit, someone should sue someone.

And when Alec Baldwin becomes The Shadow, it kind of looks like he's becoming Adam Baldwin.

Zing.

Anyway, I stopped it after maybe forty five minutes and put on Fringe instead.

They have got some weird shit happening in that show...

Weird and funny, but they need to serious things up by the end of the season (I'm five episodes out) because I'm laughing a lot more than I should be.

But not as serious as the episode where that guy who made the dead girl he'd dressed in a ballerina costume dance with a system of ropes and pulleys.

That was a bit much.

I have a feeling that maybe they'd written that scene when they thought they were going to be canned at the end of this season.

I hope.

 

In other news, Chris alerted me to the fact that, a few days ago, Saul Williams' latest album, 'Volcanic Sunlight', came out in France (where he now lives).

I did some online sorcery and now I, despite NOT living in France, have a copy of it!!!

Viola!

C'est cheese!

AND I HAVE LISTENED TO IT!!!!!!

And, while I am HUGELY biased against all Saul Williams albums NOT co-produced/co-written/co-starring Oscar®© Winning Musician Trent Reznor, this is a really solid follow-up to 'The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust' and a gigantically amazing incredible follow up to the more recent 'NGH WHT', an album-length recitation of the epic poem of the same name from Williams' poetry book, The Dead Emcee Scrolls, set to a symphony composed by Swiss composer Thomas Kessler and performed by The Arditti String Quartet.*

This time around, listeners get more pop than poetry, less "in your face" and more "in your radio", and I think it works well for Williams.

His rawness and aggression are still there, but tempered by dance beats, 60's funk licks and the second least aggressive musical instrument in the world: the tambourine.**

Certain tracks actually sound like radio-friendly singles, until you really listen to the words, at least.

One of these, "Girls Have More Fun", has a lively drum line accented by a peppy little keyboard riff. Those elements plus a sing-along chorus ("Girls! Have fun!") make the listener unable to sit still during it.

"Rocket" is ridiculously accessible and has an uplifting, cascading sound that feels akin to soaring through space and "Dance", the album's first single, makes one want to...eat...cookies...

Actually, "Dance" might be the most sinister pop song you've ever heard.

Something about it feels dangerous...

As if you'll start off the evening dancing but end up worshipping some dead god...or maybe that's just me.

Whatever the case, it's clear that Williams' time in France has influenced his sound, although there is still an abundance of his usual intense, reflective works on this album.

Songs like "Give It Up" and the title track are more the slam poetry fans are accustomed to, but even these less poppy works are still less confrontational than songs from his earlier albums.

Almost every track features live drums, which range from simple, driving beats to complex, hyper-energetic patterns which serve to almost hypnotize the listener, usually paired up with simple keyboard and/or guitar.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how much "Fall Up" and "Diagram", sound as much like TV On The Radio as TV On The Radio's "Repetition" (from their latest album 'Nine Types of Light') sounds like Saul Williams.

The idea of a Saul Williams/TV On The Radio tour (let's call it the Nine Types of Volcanic Light tour) makes my mouth water...

Anyway, while 'Niggy Tardust' and 'NGH WHT' may have frightened off the casual listeners, 'Volcanic Sunlight' is more welcoming to the less adventurous and a great gateway into Williams' deeper, more poetic works.

Even though this is a more accessible and, dare I say, commercial work, some things remain constant and that include the passion, poetry and heart with which Saul Williams imbues all his works.

His fire and intensity as a performer have earned the loyalty of his fans.

And, if you're on the fence about Saul Williams, go see him live: your doubts will be erased and you'll be a fan for life.

 

And finally, I've had quite the open dialogue with Flansburgh over Twitter these past few days, asking questions and getting answers almost instantly in a few cases.

It's made me reflect upon the days before social networking when an artist put out an album and you bought it.

You listened to it and then, maybe, you saw that artist live and screamed that you loved him or her along with thousands of other people doing the exact same thing, and then you went home.

The fact that these people, who some once revered as gods among us, can now, conceivably, see any thought or question you might have for them...and then answer it...is mind-blowing.

Hopefully this will serve to limit fanaticism and remove some of these mere, yet talented, mortals from their golden pedestals.

Although I doubt it.

Even after my golden afternoon spent with TMBG at Kampo, every time my cell phone tells me Flans responded to a post of mine, I squee a bit.

And I consider myself quite level headed.

Quite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* I'd like to take this chance to recommend that people from Switzerland should be called Switzerlish.

** The least aggressive being a triangle.