Monthly Archives: October 2009

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Zombieland

zombielandIn the past week, I’ve seen two Jesse Eisenberg movies, one called Adventureland and one called Zombieland. I’m sensing a pattern here. Next he should try something in the middle of the alphabet… Neverland, maybe.

In the course of that week, Eisenberg has quickly become one of my favorite young actors. I don’t know how much of a range he has but like Michael Cera, to whom he is constantly (and understandably) compared, the comic sweet spot he hits is perfectly on target.

Columbus, Eisenberg’s character in Zombieland, is a more neurotic version of Adventureland‘s James. Isolated from human contact, he spends most of his time playing video games. Which turns out the be the perfect situation for somebody hoping to survive the zombie apocalypse.

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Song of the Day #438: ‘Innocent One’ – Michael Penn

marchNearly 20 years ago, back when I received new music from my sister and brother-in-law rather than the other way around, I was gifted two CDs as a high school graduation present. One was Elvis Costello’s King of America. The other was Michael Penn’s March.

The Costello album triggered an appreciation bordering on obsession that continues to this day. In light of that, it’s easy to dismiss the Michael Penn album as the less important or meaningful gift. But on the contrary, it too sparked an ongoing admiration for one of music’s most underrated artists.

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Song of the Day #437: ‘Here Comes the Sun’ – The Beatles

bealtesshotI’m sticking with the “quiet Beatle” this weekend.

George Harrison wrote 22 of The Beatles’ 200+ songs and they run the gamut from totally forgettable (‘Blue Jay Way’) to some of the best songs in the catalog (‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ ‘Here Comes the Sun’). He introduced the sitar into the band’s tool kit, putting it to good use on his own ‘Within You Without You’ and ‘The Inner Light’ and making John’s ‘Norwegian Wood‘ possible.

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Song of the Day #436: ‘Long, Long, Long’ – The Beatles

georgeOne of the greatest things about the Beatles catalog is how deep it is. Awhile back I wrote about my theory that it take three great songs to make a great album. Well, in the case of The Beatles, just about every song on each of their albums is great. Even (sometimes especially) the ones casual fans have never even heard of.

I can think of exactly one track in a discography of more than 200 songs that I actually skip: ‘Revolution 9.’ And that’s not even a real song. The rest run the gamut from ‘the best songs ever written’ to ‘pretty good’ with 95% at ‘great’ or better. Not many artists can claim that sort of consistency, and no other band rivals the number of ‘best songs ever written’ — not even close.

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Song of the Day #435: ‘Only Happy When it Rains (Live on MTV Awards)’ – Garbage

shirleyMy final installment in this week’s ‘sexy series’ is the only one who’s part of a group. But, like her friend and contemporary Gwen Stefani, Shirley Manson so dominates the men surrounding her that they may as well be session musicians.

I’m sorry, that’s not fair to Bruce Vig and the rest of Garbage, who co-write all of the songs, play instruments and work magic in the studio. Garbage is so successful because of the way that musicianship and production wizardry blends with such a charismatic lead singer. Shirley Manson could no doubt embark on a solo career but I doubt she’d be as effective as she is when taming the mechanical bull of a band that plays behind her.

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